The Kenai Peninsula Borough School Board’s policy committee discussed transgender students in bathrooms and locker rooms during their meeting in Seward Monday, but no change will be implemented right away.
Board President Joe Arness says right now all rules regarding restrooms or changing areas remain the same.
Board Pres. Arness: “We intend to proceed with the question but proceed with it very carefully and very slowly to provide opportunity for schools and communities to weigh in and have a conversation about it. Nothing is going to happen in the way of a district wide policy real soon, specifically not in the summer, when people are not around, people are not paying attention. We’re not going to do anything real rash.”
He says courts and community input will have impacts on the policies created and right now the outcome is far from finalized.
The discussion was spurred by a request from the Alaska Student Activities Association, which wants each school district to have a policy in place regarding transgender students.
District Superintendent Sean Dusek says at this time only a handful of students have identified themselves as transgender in Kenai Peninsula schools. He says administrators at the schools those children attend have been able to work with them and their parents to accommodate their needs.
The School Board Policy Committee will seek public comment before any changes are made or transgender policy implemented.