By Stephen Appezzato
COLTS NECK – The Colts Neck Board of Education is considering revising its transgender student policy. If approved, school staff must inform parents of a child’s wish to be addressed by a different name, pronoun or gender identity.
The school district’s current policy, known as a “student-centered approach,” operates in accordance with New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) guidelines. In 2018, the NJDOE directed public schools to adopt this policy, which holds that schools should honor students’ desired gender identities regardless of parental direction. Additionally, schools are not obligated to disclose changes to students’ identities with their parents.
Colts Neck has operated with its current student-centered approach (Policy 5756) since 2019. Revisions to this policy were introduced earlier this year following the election of new board of education members in November.
In February, the first iteration of this policy change was introduced. John Camera, a member of the school board who was elected last year and ran under the “Colts Kids First” slate, explained his support for the policy revisions in an email to The Two River Times, speaking as an individual, not as a board member. Camera said he was “very concerned and upset about many aspects” of the district’s current transgender student policy.
“The idea that if a 6- or 7-year-old tells a school staff member that they identify as something other than their biological gender that we would not immediately share that with her parents is completely wrong,” he said.
But parents vehemently opposed these changes upon their first reading. The school board rejected the first iteration of the revisions, which also included changes to the district’s facilities policy, referring to which bathrooms and locker rooms students could use based on their gender identity.
In May, amid much community opposition, revised changes to Policy 5756 were introduced and approved for a second reading and subsequent adoption vote at a later meeting date.
The current proposed changes contain a parental/ guardian notification clause, which states that, “in an effort to preserve the child’s best interests, transparency between home and school is essential.”
Under the change, if a student discloses to a staff member they would like to be addressed by a different name, pronoun or gender “not corresponding to their biological sex,” the school principal or designee will confirm knowledge of these identity changes with the student’s parent.
If the student reveals that their parent or guardian is unaware of these changes, “the Principal or designee shall promptly develop a plan with the student to notify their parent/guardian of their child’s gender identity an/or expression, and provide such notification,” unless there is reasonable belief, “based on documented evidence and circumstances,” that the notification would pose a threat of harm to the student.
Regardless of the parent’s input, students in grades six through eight will be addressed by their desired identity, as long as their parents are notified.
For students in Pre-K through fifth grade, “the responsibility for determining a student’s gender identity rests with the students’ parents/guardians.” The latest proposed policy revisions do not include changes to school facility policy.
“If a child says, ‘I want a different name or different pronouns,’ the parents can say no. And so now that child doesn’t even get a say in who they are as a person. They have to wait until they’re old enough for the school district to respect the identity that they’re trying to establish,” said Colts Neck parent Mallory Reardon.
Similar policies have been introduced across the state in the name of parental rights, challenging theNJDOE’s student-centered approach. In May, a parent notification policy that passed in Hanover Township was challenged by state Attorney General Matt Platkin through a civil rights complaint, citing violations against anti-discrimination laws. The matter remains tied in a legal deadlock.
In Middletown, the board of education adopted a transgender student policy revision at its June 20 meeting. Parental consent remains unnecessary for the school district to accept a student’s asserted gender identity. However, if a student requests a “public social transition accommodation” – which includes a public name, pronoun or identity change, bathroom and locker room accommodations, and club or sport accommodations – the school district will now notify the student’s parents of their asserted identity and requested accommodation, “provided there is no documented evidence that doing so would subject the student to physical or emotional harm or abuse.”
It is a controversial matter and residents, activist groups and parents across Monmouth County are divided.
Those in support of the proposed revisions argue it is a parent’s right to be informed of their student’s preferred identity.
Nikki Stouffer, who founded The New Jersey Project, an organization that criticizes what she calls the “WOKE NJ Agenda” on social media, argues that, “Just because the school tells the parent that the child may be transgender, there is no guarantee that the parent wouldn’t take appropriate steps towards that. They (schools) seem to think that parents are the enemy, but the parents have the child’s best interest at heart.” She said in a phone interview with The Two River Times that “the first line of defense for a child is their parent. It is not the school and it’s not the government.”
The New Jersey Project endorsed and promoted Colts Kids First candidates John Camera and Jessica Ramirez in November’s school board election.
Parents and advocacy groups that oppose the policy revision argue against school staff “outing” transgender students and the harmful rifts it could create in a student’s home life. (Outing is when information about a person’s gender identity or sexual orientation is shared without their consent.)
“We’re trying to fight this and we’re trying to make sure that schools stay a safe and inclusive environment for them (transgender students),” said Reardon, who also started a change.org petition called “Keep Colts Neck Schools Safe for Transgender Students!”
“I started the petition as a way of trying to get more support and more interest from people that aren’t necessarily going to the board of ed meetings,” Reardon explained.
“I think it’s the Trevor Project (a nonprofit organization focused on suicide prevention efforts among LGBTQ youth) that released statistics and said over 40% of transgender children don’t live in a welcoming home environment,” she said. The policy changes “would force all of these staff members to contact the parents and out the child to the parent.”
“I think that would be really harmful to these children,” she added.
According to Reardon, the policy changes “were definitely introduced because of new candidates that were just seated on the board,” referencing members of the Colts Kids First slate. “They are solely responsible for introducing these policy changes.”
A second hearing on the proposed changes – and the vote for adoption – will take place at the Colts Neck Board of Education’s June 28 meeting; the matter could be postponed to a later date.
Update: On June 22, state Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced the filing of a civil rights complaint, challenging revisions to transgender student policies in Middletown Township, Marlboro Township and Manalapan-Englishtown. Additionally, Platkin filed emergency motions in Superior Court in an attempt to immediately halt these policy revisions from taking effect. The state took a similar course of action in May, following the Hanover Township board of education’s adoption of new transgender student policy.
The article originally appeared in the June 22 – 28, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
