A marathon School Board session was kicked off with a long public comment period, with much of it focused on an upcoming transgender policy required by the state.
The model policy supplied by the State Board of Education is the minimum that must be met by local divisions. However, speakers overwhelmingly challenged the board to not adopt the policy.
Jim Ennis said boards have yielded to radical demands from the LGBTQ community, including mixing genders in sports, showers and bathrooms and are taking away parental rights.
Donn Sunshine told the board that it could accommodate transgender students in a safer and better way, adding it’s not wise or safe to allow students to use the same bathrooms, locker rooms and shower areas. Sunshine said that a large percentage of LGBTQ students are depressed and suicidal. He said the policy is a move toward totalitarianism and warned of detrimental effects on the culture.
Vincent Russell Rice Jr., in a written comment, said changing sex is never a healthy solution, calling it a “false interchangeability between boys and girls.”
Only one commenter, Rural Retreat High School teacher Megan Patrick, spoke in favor of adopting the policy, saying the board has to treat transgender students equally by law and that the board can only elect to make the policy more stringent, not less stringent.
Patrick, who is the GSA sponsor at Rural Retreat, said she was disappointed in the Board of Supervisors, who had joined in on the criticism during its last meeting.
Saying Christianity doesn’t have a place in setting policy, Patrick said opponents should consider the scripture, quoting John 13:34.
The verse reads, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
Chalmer Frye also read a letter from the School Board attorney, saying that though appeals have been filed, nothing in the appeals challenges the underlying statute.
Frye said that the policy hasn’t come before the board – yet, but noted that every board member stood before a judge or court clerk and swore to abide by the U.S. and state constitutions. He said everyone of the members may have a different personal opinion but still must do what the law requires.
“Do we break the law?” he asked. “I don’t want to break the law. I don’t want to be arrested. I don’t want to be taken to jail.”
