Georgia school Superintendent Richard Woods has not changed his response to last week's transgender bathroom guidance from the federal government.
Gov. Nathan Deal called on the leader of Georgia's Department of Education on Tuesday to "provide guidance" to local school districts, but a statement from the superintendent's office Wednesday says essentially the same thing as one issued last week immediately after the controversial directive from Washington.
“We will carefully consider policy before making recommendations or taking actions,” it says.
Both Deal and Woods — Republicans — accused the Democratic administration of President Barack Obama of exceeding federal authority. Deal said he doubts the directive carries the force of law, but noted that the federal government has threatened to withhold funding from schools that fail to comply.
Deal said Georgia’s constitution requires bathroom decisions to be made at the local level, by each school district. But he asked Woods “to provide guidance to those local school systems seeking assistance and clarity on this issue in order to ensure that there will be as much uniformity across our state as possible.”
On Wednesday, Woods’ office released a statement that repeated what the superintendent had said last week: He believes there are “safety concerns” in allowing students “of different genders” to share a bathroom. “For that reason, I do not believe a student of another gender should use a restroom alongside students of the opposite sex.”
Woods added to his prior statement, accusing the federal government of “crossing the line and breaching its constitutional authority” and saying the guidance from Obama was “very irresponsible.” Woods accused the feds of bullying and said Georgia schools “have and will continue to appropriately address concerns surrounding this and many other issues. Our schools will do the right thing.”
The federal guidance advises schools on the treatment of transgender students, including suggestions that they let them use the restrooms and locker rooms that fit their chosen gender identity. It refers to an accompanying letter that offers recommended practices from around the country.
The letter, Policies and Emerging Practices for Supporting Transgender Students, offers examples that "illustrate how states and school districts are supporting transgender students."
“Some schools have provided students increased privacy by making adjustments to sex-segregated facilities or providing all students with access to alternative facilities,” it said.
Among the examples, are guidelines from Washington state that say school districts should let students use the restroom that is “consistent with their gender identity” and should offer access to an “alternative” restroom or changing area; guidelines from Anchorage that say no “gender nonconforming” student or teacher should be required to use a “separate, nonintegrated space;” a Kentucky high school policy that says students should have access to private areas within the public area of a locker room; and an example from a New York high school where the principal put up curtains in a locker room to create a private area.
The effect of the guidelines is debatable. The Obama administration has threatened loss of federal funds for schools that don’t comply, and Georgia gets about $2 billion in federal education money. The federal government also warned that school districts that don’t comply could expose themselves to lawsuits. The guidance is a message to the courts about how to interpret the law.
But Phillip Hartley, a prominent education lawyer, said the federal missive is nothing new. The Obama administration has been making this same position clear in friend-of-the-court briefs in lawsuits around the country, so judges already know what the administration thinks.
There is a national legal debate about how much weight to give the administration’s interpretation of the law, and guidance like this won’t change that. What makes it significant is the public message it sends, louder, if not clearer, than those court briefs.
“That’s one of the major concerns,” Hartley said. “The more publicity, the more likelihood of the kind of litigation … that’s brought on by strongly held feelings.”
Parents of transgender youths may feel emboldened to sue their schools, said Hartley, who represents over 100 Georgia school districts. He’s unaware of any such litigation in Georgia so far.
The alternative, he said, is for schools to develop plans on a student-by-student basis.
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