ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. — The Elizabethtown School Board on Tuesday is set to introduce new policies restricting the use of preferred pronouns for students and transgender students from playing on sports teams aligning with their identified gender.
The board will hold a first reading of the new policies at its workshop meeting Tuesday night.
The policy on "Student Records - Name, Sex, and Gender Identity" would require parents of a student under the age of 18 to submit a written request in order for the student to be addressed by their preferred pronouns.
"The district standard is for school personnel to refer to each student using only the pronouns appropriate to the sex appearing in the student’s official record," the policy reads. "When accommodation requests have been granted by the district, school personnel will endeavor to avoid addressing the student by the unwanted first name or pronoun as an accommodation to the student."
The policy would not force students and staff to refer to a student by a name "inconsistent with their beliefs," even if a request is approved by the school to refer to a student by their preferred pronouns or name.
"A student wishing to change his or her means of address will be treated with respect in the classroom and school environment," the policy reads. "Similarly, students or school personnel shall not be forced to use language inconsistent with their beliefs and are to be treated with respect. As such, this policy forbids school personnel or students from repeatedly calling someone unwanted names or pronouns on one end of the spectrum, and forbids forcing school personnel or students from speaking names or pronouns in violation of their conscience on the other end of the spectrum."
The district's proposed policy on "Sex-Based Distinctions in Athletics" would forbid students from playing on a sports team different from their assigned sex.
"Athletic teams or sports designated for 'females,' 'women,' or 'girls' shall not be open to students of the male sex, and athletic teams or sports designated for 'males,' 'men,' or 'boys' shall not be open to students of the female sex," the policy reads.
The policy proposals come five months after the board approved the hiring of the Independence Law Center, the conservative law firm tasked with drafting policies for school districts pertaining to cultural issues in schools.
The firm has been met with backlash from parents in the districts that hire it, who say the policies drafted by the board single out LGBTQ+ students.
The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at Elizabethtown High School.
The policies are expected to be voted on at the board's next meeting on Nov. 26.
