YORK COUNTY, Pa. — The Southern York County School District Board (SYCSD) met on Thursday to discuss policies concerning the LGBTQ community that would affect how students identify in the classroom and on the field.
This is part of a bigger battle that many school boards are facing this year with public concern over policies drafted by the Independence Law Center (ILC), a conservative group offering free legal advice in school policy decisions. SYCSD hired the law firm in May.
The first policy being proposed would create sex-based distinctions on what sports teams students can play on.
Several schools in central Pennsylvania have already adopted similar policies through their partnerships with the ILC, including Northern York County School District and Hempfield School District. Based on those policies, Southern York County School District alumna Gracie Putnam says those being discussed at Thursday’s meeting would compromise student safety.
“For a lot of students that are queer its not safe for them to be out at home; school can often be the only safe place for them,” said Putnam.
The policies from Hempfield School District state that LGBTQ students can join either a co-ed sports team or one that aligns with the sex assigned to them at birth.
The second policy requires parents or a dependent student to submit a written request and provide legal documentation reflecting a name change for a student’s preferred name to be used in the classroom.
Some community members, like Codorous Township resident Steph Musser, feel that if passed the school district would violate Title XI law preventing discrimination based on sex in school programs and activities.
“Regardless about how you feel about transgender rights, Pa. law stands, and you have no right in making policy changes because there have been no changes in state law,” Musser stated.
Many schools have adopted these cookie-cutter policies with minimal changes, which is why some members of the SYCSD community hope to halt further drafts until they have a chance to provide their input.
Those drafted documents won’t be released until early next week, despite some board members pushing to make them public sooner at the meeting as they say this is a highly controversial issue that has raised community concerns in the district and across the state.
The board will not vote on the policies until after the documents are released and the public has time to view and respond to them as well as giving board members more time to workshop the policies if necessary.