The Red Clay School District in Delaware narrowly approved a pro-transgender policy on Wednesday night after four hours of deliberation at the school board meeting.
The Delaware school district's transgender policy was first proposed in November and involved efforts to allow transgender students to use the bathroom and locker room of their choice, as well as allowing them to use their preferred name and pronouns in school. It also allows transgender students to participate in athletic and health programs.
According to Delaware Online, the school board meeting lasted four hours because the public comment was extended to more than three hours, in which parents who were for and against the transgender policy spoke out. Almost 70 parents aired their concerns over the Delaware school district's new transgender policy, both in person and virtually.
Parents and attendees at the school board meeting booed, cheered, clapped, waved signs, and shouted back and forth. At some point, the discussion became so chaotic that security was forced to remove one attendee and four state troopers had to be called in before the meeting concluded at midnight.
Many parents opposed the transgender policy of the Delaware school district, which was eventually approved after a 4 to 3 vote. Some parents raised concerns over safety, as the new policy will allow biologically male students to access female bathrooms across the district.
Some parents raised concerns over the "unfairness" of athletic teams that would allow trans boys to compete in girls' teams. Other parents raised concerns over the potential "confusion" it would cause to their children. Meanwhile, other parents threatened to homeschool their kids instead if the policy was approved.
Red Clay parents also contended over how the policy allowed students to change their gender identity at school without their parents' consent or knowledge. In an earlier draft of the policy, the disclosure was required, but later removed because of parents' and families' potential responses.
"All Delaware students' gender identity choices deserve respect, and students should have safe, supportive learning environments," a spokesperson for the Delaware Department of Education said earlier this month. An earlier report from Delaware Online showed that the Red Clay Consolidated School District sent out a survey in which they asked its students about their gender identities and their views on the school climate.
The school district's director of equity and strategic partnerships Tawanda Bond reported that the results showed a "fairly significant" number of LGBTQ students, most of which identified as transgender or non-binary. She remarked, "We need to be deliberately inclusive."
School District Counselor Brieanna Brown told the Delaware Public Media that the chunk of the transgender policy is already being used informally in the school district. She explained, "These bathroom and locker room policies are already in place for students in some of our schools across the district and to the best of my knowledge there have been zero issues."
