Supporting LGBTQ+ students and families

As a mental health provider, I have direct experience working with LGBTQ+ patients who seek gender affirming care, as well as medical care for any number of health issues. I understand from the practitioner side the medical and psychosocial needs and sources of discrimination these patients face in their daily lives, including in educational systems. Unfortunately, I have also heard many stories of how these needs are not always met. Resources I have called upon in my own practice include a wide variety of resources from the University of California San Francisco, a leading institution for LGBTQ health, The Fenway Guide, GLADD, and the Human Rights Campaign. The VA, where I work, also provides targeted resources to serve our LGBTQ+ Veteran populations. 

In an emergency, we would need to work closely with the individual students involved, their parents/caregivers, our school social workers and psychologists, principals, and ultimately the superintendent, who must be adept at handling emergency situations involving LGBTQ+ youth. There are several policies and programs within District 65 that address LGBTQ+ youth including curricula efforts, Gender Support Plans, the “Gender Support Administrative Procedures”, the District’s Commitment to Equity and Equity Policy, and state and legal frameworks that the district is subject to with respect to nondiscrimination and harassment. In terms of suggestions for policy changes, a primary question I have is: how well are we implementing and adhering to our existing policies? If we are not implementing them with fidelity- we need to focus on doing so. We should be following the known best practices in these areas, and if we are not, our policies need to be modified. Our LGBTQ+ youth and employees are experts of their own experiences, and should be central to amending/creating policies that feel appropriate to them. If an avenue for their participation doesn’t already exist, it should and the new board must address this gap.

First and foremost, I want to be clear that, as a Board Member, I will always acknowledge the gaps I have in my own background, training, and experiences. I will continue to learn about the issues affecting our LGBTQ+ youth to ensure I help to promote a culture of safety and tolerance for our students. Specific policy or implementation areas I am aware of include curricula, Gender Support Plans, the “Gender Support Administrative Procedures”, the District’s stated Commitment to Equity and Equity Policy, and some of the state and legal frameworks that the district is subject to with respect to nondiscrimination in teaching and hiring. What I would like to understand better is- how are families experiencing the implementation of these policies? What is working well for you and your children, and what needs to be improved? We need to support and celebrate efforts that are working,  and reevaluate areas that are not. In places where we are not going far enough to support our students and staff, we need to proactively address these gaps.  

I want to ensure that lived experiences, research, and community wisdom  inform decision making in our community, not fear. LGBTQ+ policies can be an uncomfortable topic for schools to approach, especially in our political climate, but we must always center our children here- it isn't the discomfort of adults that needs to be emphasized, but the discomfort of students and families who are impacted by a lack of inclusion. Three specific actions I would take include auditing existing district policies, compiling best practices from systems that are succeeding, and update our policies to reflect our community values and goals. I am also committed to community outreach with families and educators to ensure their perspectives are heard and to ensure we offer space for families affected to share their experiences and needs. Another action could be advocating continued education/trainings for the board, staff, etc., to continue familiarizing themselves on topic related to LGBTQ+ identities...

The system may be well intentioned but the rollout has been poor and communication with families and teachers lacking. It should be very clear what a student has to do in order to get the EX and ME scores and the parents/teachers/students should be better educated. I think a grading system training document for use at parent teacher conferences could be centrally developed by admin and reviewed with parents at the parent teacher conferences, taking 3-5 minutes. These trainings could review basic SBG   information, what the student needs to improve upon, what they can do to get better scores, what they are doing well at, and any other information that may inform high-school readiness. Receiving an EX score should be obtainable and how to do it should not be a mystery. The district needs to be explicit, informed, and intentional about decisions like SBG being made and follow through with strong and informed implementation.

It is best practice that students should be able to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity, and District 65’s own policy should be actively supporting this as laid out in the Gender Support Plan rubrics. Where gaps between policy and implementation exist, we need to have direct conversations with educators involved to clarify why allowing students to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity is beneficial for all parties. The District, under the advisory of the School Board, should inventory all bathrooms at every school and determine where availability gaps exist and where the needs for all gender restrooms are in individual buildings. For all new construction, including the 5th ward school, ensuring adequate access to all gender restrooms would be prioritized by me as a board member. 

I plan to continue to use pronouns as a part of my introduction to continue to normalize this practice. We know the use of appropriate pronouns is life saving and part of suicide prevention for our students. Pronouns are part of the most basic aspects of respect and belonging, every child deserves to be correctly identified. As a board member, it would be my duty to hold the superintendent accountable for adherence to strategic plan and assessing the needs of the community.

Generally, ensuring that non-binary inclusive language is being used shows respect and acknowledgment for those with gnc identities. The board member should also hold the district administration accountable to providing regular training to staff and admin, having anonymous methods by which to collect feedback from all stakeholders  and holding those individuals accountable if retraining is needed. Also, the board member must ensure the superintendent is enforcing policies and supporting cultural growth that is aligned with the strategic plan for the district.

Yes. If the administration is not on board with these aims, then we would need to look at whether they are in violation of their contract. In the specific case of the superintendent, if they were not committed to certain inclusivity training goals, we would need to consider all options including evaluating whether this is grounds for termination. We need administrators in the district who align with the priorities and values of the community at large, which includes being a welcoming place for LGBTQ+ individuals and families. If this is not the case for a particular administrator, they are not a good fit for the district and we should address this head-on.  

We have seen a lot of changes to curricula across the district in recent years and I think these changes warrant scrutiny. Like many curricular decisions, I think we need to ask ourselves “what is the goal of this curricular implementation?” Then we should ensure that the curricular change is highly likely to achieve this goal. If past curriculum changes benefit the district and help to achieve goals of LGBTQ+ visibility, also improving mental health wellness, fostering inclusivity, and meeting goals of the strategic plan – then we should continue this curricula. I think that likely, curricular changes are made with differing degrees of heterogeneity and therefor are unlikely to consistently represents people in the community. I would survey the community to get a more complete picture of this.

We need to stop pitting the financial situation against the needs of the community. Ensuring policy supporting equity and inclusion for the LGBTQ+ community should remain constant. Trainings should always align with the goals of them district and should be provided regularly.

Dear _____, I appreciate your concern and willingness to share your thoughts, and as a parent myself, I know that discussions around identity, sex, and gender can be challenging– especially when our children are involved. While I definitely agree that families should discuss issues around identity at home, it is also true that children with different identities attend our schools and interact with each other and their educators on a daily basis. These interactions can profoundly impact our children’s development and psychosocial wellbeing, and for this reason, I believe these issues need to be openly discussed and addressed by our schools in order to keep all of our children safe.