In response to last week’s contentious new Obama administration guidelines on transgender public school students, Gwinnett County school officials said those students can use gender-neutral restrooms and other facilities, but complained that the federal government should have stayed out of the issue.
Georgia's largest school district, which has about 176,000 students, published a statement on its website dated Sunday in response to a federal directive issued Friday that said public school districts should allow transgender students to use restrooms, locker rooms and other facilities that fit their gender identity.
“Given the unique safety and privacy concerns of elementary and secondary school students, this issue should be handled at the local level where school leadership can best address the needs of its students in accordance with the shared values of order, fairness, and respect,” the statement said. It also described the federal guidelines as an “overreach.”
Gwinnett’s statement is the most critical of any metro Atlanta’s largest school districts concerning the federal guidelines. Other area districts have either said little about the directive or welcomed the federal guidance. None have said they will oppose the directive.
Officials said Gwinnett’s current policy is to allow a school to handle any special accommodations a student requests. Gwinnett does not collect data on how many transgender students are in the school district, officials said.
Gwinnett’s five school board members, four of them Republican, are getting pressure to resist the federal directive. A local tea party group, the United Tea Party of Georgia, has asked its members to come to Gwinnett’s school board meeting Thursday to voice their opposition to the federal guidelines.
“We need to get a group together and let them know that we demand they stand up to the Federal Government and refuse to allow boys (and men!) into our girl’s bathrooms, locker rooms and showers,” they wrote via email.
“Most of these board members claim to be Republicans — perhaps they just need a little encouragement to help them do the right thing!” the email added.
The federal directive notes while it is not a law, school districts could lose federal funding if they do not comply. A few have said they should forgo the federal funding. Georgia will receive about $2 billion this budget year in federal education funding.
Atlanta Superintendent Meria Carstarphen said in an interview Friday she welcomed the federal guidance and her staff will review it. Cobb school officials said they will review it this summer. Cobb’s Walton High has set aside a gender-neutral restroom for transgender students.
DeKalb officials said Friday they are encouraging school administrators to have conversations with students and their families about transgender and school issues. Fulton County school district officials said Monday they have not met to discuss the guidelines.
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