The Smithfield School Committee is set to vote Thursday on a revised policy governing transgender, gender-nonconforming and transitioning students, with the proposal touching on names and pronouns, privacy, bathrooms, sports and parental involvement. The vote caps a process that has included public debate over how much school officials should tell parents when a child at school is questioning their gender identity.
What the Revised Policy Covers
According to turnto10.com, the policy up for a vote addresses names and pronouns, privacy, bathrooms, sports and parental involvement, and a vote is expected Thursday. Earlier reporting from Valley Breeze indicated the School Committee planned to hold a public hearing and a second reading of the proposed policy before taking that vote. That coverage also noted the seed story was first reported by coastalabc.com.
Per the Valley Breeze account, the proposal would allow the district to consider whether to notify parents about a student's gender identity, including weighing the possibility of parental retaliation. That notification restriction would only apply to students at the secondary level — middle and high school — and would not extend to elementary students, the outlet reported.
Superintendent Defends Flexibility, Bathroom Access Addressed
Smithfield Superintendent Dawn Bartz said the flexibility built into the proposed policy is meant to account for a student's age, health and safety, and that it does not negate parental involvement in most cases, per the same account. The proposed policy also includes a provision allowing any student, not just those who are transgender or gender-nonconforming, to request use of a single-stall restroom for comfort, the article notes.
Those details follow a policy history in Smithfield that dates back several years. The School Committee voted unanimously on June 21, 2023, to approve an earlier round of changes to the district's policy on transgender, gender-nonconforming and transitioning students, according to turnto10.com's reporting from that period. That 2023 policy did not require teachers to notify parents when a middle or high school student was struggling with their gender identity, and it gave cisgender students access to one male and one female bathroom, with additional bathrooms available based on a student's gender identity.
State Rules Require Nondiscrimination Policies
Smithfield's existing nondiscrimination policy states that the district does not and will not discriminate on the basis of sex, sexual orientation or gender identity in its educational programs and activities, according to the district's own published policy at policies.smithfield-ps.org. That stance mirrors statewide requirements: Rhode Island regulations say programs operated by public educational agencies shall be free from discrimination based on sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, and that each local education agency must adopt a policy addressing those rights, per the Rhode Island Department of State.
The Rhode Island Attorney General's Office has said those regulations require local education agencies to adopt policies providing what it called a safe, supportive and nondiscriminatory school environment for transgender and gender-nonconforming students, and that they give the Education Commissioner authority to enforce the state's anti-discrimination requirements in schools. Separately, Rhode Island Department of Education guidance describes offering what it calls a safe and non-stigmatizing alternative to a gender-segregated facility, which can include a privacy partition, permission to use a nearby private restroom, or a separate accommodation.
Other RI Districts Have Wrestled With Similar Policies
Smithfield is not the only Rhode Island district to revisit this issue recently. The Cumberland School Committee rejected changes to its own transgender student policy on a 5-2 vote, according to reporting from steveahlquist.substack.com. The rejected Cumberland proposal would have required the school system to report transgender-identifying children to their parents when disclosure was deemed safe, and would have allowed parents to force teachers to use names or pronouns that did not affirm a student's identity, per that account.
The Foster-Glocester Regional School District Committee's Policy Sub-Committee has also reviewed its own transgender, gender-nonconforming and transitioning students policy, with discussion touching on whether transgender students should use bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity, according to the same outlet. Rhode Island Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green has directed school districts statewide to review their policies for compliance with state guidance and regulations, the outlet reported.
Whether Smithfield's School Committee ultimately approves, rejects or amends the revised policy Thursday remains to be seen. The committee's decision will add Smithfield to the list of Rhode Island districts that have recently grappled publicly with how far to extend parental notification requirements while meeting the state's nondiscrimination mandates.
