A Michigan middle school has come under fire for telling teachers to hide from parents the fact their son is transgender.
A counselor at Richards Middle in Fraser, near Detroit, sent an email sent to educators ahead of the school’s parent teacher conferences this month.
They were told not to tell the student’s parents about the change in the student’s gender identification, which saw the youth ask to be tabbed as a female.
The message, penned by a school counselor, reportedly warned teachers ahead of the conferences to only use the student’s ‘birth name’ and ‘refer to the pronoun “he”‘ when talking to the student’s mother.
Throughout the letter, the counselor reportedly refers to the student by their chosen female name and pronouns, and tells the teachers that the parent is still unaware of this transition.
It comes as schools across the country are increasingly allowing kids who identify as transgender to use their preferred names and pronouns without parents’ knowledge, with officials citing a federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools.
Michigan’s Richards Middle has come under fire for telling instructors to hide from parents the fact their son is transgender, since the student came to the realization while in school
The guidance, Title IX, prohibits sexual harassment or sex-based discrimination at schools and universities that receive federal funding.
It also requires schools to adopt and administer grievance procedures for students to file complaints of sexual discrimination, harassment, or violence.
The law reads: ‘No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.’
In 2021 President Biden altered the guidance to not only apply to biological sex, but gender identity – a recently surfaced construct that refers to the personal sense of one’s gender – after former President Trump’s refusal to include it in the law, which was passed under the administration of Barack Obama in 2016.
However, it is currently unclear which portion of the guidance staffers at the public school – and others across the country – are citing with their refusal to notify parents of their children’s gender status, first reported by Fox News.
Reached for comment this week, a spokesperson for the Fraser school district did not deny that the district was hiding the student’s gender status from parents.
‘The district is mindful of and compliant with its obligations under Title IX laws,’ the district rep asserted in an email.
On its website, the district provides school staffers with a list of resources regarding the district’s policies regarding gender equity issues, which includes a link to a proposed state Department of Education guidance that advises teachers to not share private information such as gender identity with parents.
‘Transgender and gender-nonconforming students have the right to decide when, with whom and to what extent to share private information,’ the guidance, issued under the administration of former Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, states.
‘When contacting the parent/guardian of a transgender or gender-nonconforming student, school staff should use the student’s legal name and the pronoun corresponding to the student’s assigned sex at birth,’ it reads.
The guidance, however, was never approved – with the state ultimately deciding on a a law that allows districts to evaluate such matters on a ‘case-by-case basis.’
‘When students have not come out to their parent(s), a disclosure to parent(s) should be carefully considered on a case-by-case basis,’ the state’s approved policy reads.
It adds that ‘school districts should consider the health, safety, and well-being of the student, as well as the responsibility to keep parents informed.
‘Privacy considerations may vary with the age of the students,’ it further notes.