Adam Zuvanich/Houston Public Media
Trustees for Cypress-Fairbanks ISD near Houston are considering a policy that would require parents to be notified if their child uses a pronoun in school that is different from their biological sex.
The proposed policy mirrors nearby Katy ISD’s “gender fluidity” guidance requiring students to use restrooms and locker room facilities that correspond with their biological sex. That policy drew complaints and an ongoing federal investigation led by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
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Under Cy-Fair ISD’s proposed policy, parents would be required to submit a written request for an accommodation allowing their child to use preferred pronouns at their school. But staff members could request their own accommodation from calling that student by their preferred pronouns if it interferes with their own “sincerely held belief,” according to district documents.
Trustee Julie Hinaman, during an at-times heated board meeting on Monday, raised concerns that passing a policy reflecting Katy ISD’s gender fluidity policy could also draw investigations into the constitutionality of the requirements. Trustee Todd LeCompte and other district officials asserted that the proposed policy would be in compliance with state law.
The proposed policy defines gender identity as a belief that “espouses the view that an individual’s biological sex is different from that person’s biological sex or should be changed to ‘match’ a gender,” and/or a belief that “supports hormone therapy or other medical treatments or procedures to temporarily or permanently alter a person’s body so that it ‘matches’ a gender different from that person’s biological sex.”
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“Parents have the ultimate responsibility and role to guide the beliefs and protect the health and well-being of their children,” a district document states.
More than 20 Katy ISD students were revealed as transgender to their parents within the first few months of the district’s controversial policy being implemented, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Cy-Fair ISD trustees Monday said that consideration for the new policy comes after concerns from parents and confusion on the district’s existing procedures regarding students with gender preferences. The district’s policy committee took up discussions on the policy after board vice president Natalie Blasingame provided documents to the committee from the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Austin.
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During the Monday meeting, Blasingame denied being in contact with anyone from the organization, but did say they provided “high quality” material to her.
“It is pushing a suggested board policy developed and promoted by an outside organization, TPPF, which has publicly and aggressively advocated against public education and for defunding public schools,” Hinaman said during the meeting.
“I received the same material and, again, I disregarded it because I do not take policy direction from TPPF,” she added.
The organization could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.
The policy under consideration drew criticism from Cy-Fair ISD students and parents. Mo Hatfield, a recent graduate of the district, said the policy would not be in the best interest of students.
“Many trans and non-binary students also look to their school to be a supportive environment,” Hatfield said.
“This policy revision would remove the existence of a huge group of people from all school materials, including completely optional library books,” Hatfield added. “How does not letting students know about other people prepare them to be 21st-century global leaders? This policy will hurt students physically and emotionally.”
The board of trustees is set to take an initial vote on the controversial policy during its meeting on Thursday.