new School policy says
students can identify by a different gender name
without parentS knowledge
According to the article on CBC, Students of any age at both the elementary and secondary levels can request to change to their gender pronouns and name at school without the knowledge of parents or guardians, according to a board policy in Windsor-Essex.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/school-board-policy-gender-identity-1.6614533
Some parents oppose policy, while school boards say it protects students
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The last GECDSB meeting was Nov. 1, see link below. We had a PFPR member speak about the Gender Identity/Expression Regulation (fast forward to around 2hours 22 minutes). See speech below:
“Good evening and thank you for having me.
I am Aaron Merkestyn, a member of Parents for Parents’ Rights. I am here to speak about the regulation called “Gender Identity and Expression-Student Records” and Trustee Halberstadt’s motion.
I’d first like to clarify any misunderstandings that may have arisen since the last meeting on Monday October 18th, when our President spoke. We want to be very clear we are not homophobic nor transphobic nor against the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Second, we all need to support and unify family. Third, safety of all children is very important to us. And forth, we respect human rights for everyone and want to work together for the best education for all children.
With that said, our board AND the Catholic Board have policies regarding gender identity and change of school records (a.k.a. “ACCOMMODATION REQUESTS”). Both boards emphasize that students have the right to self-identify and express their gender identity, as this is part of the Human Right’s Code. But the policies are worded MUCH differently when it comes to accommodation requests. Again, to clarify, ACCOMMODATION REQUESTS refer to changing school records such as class lists, student information systems, timetables, etc. We have provided copies of both policies for your reference.
According to the Catholic Board’s policy: No student 15 years or under is permitted to make accommodation requests (a.k.a. change their student records) without a written request from the parent, so parents are NOT excluded. This is one of several age guidelines included in the policy.
Conversely, our policy states “There is no age limit on making an accommodation request”; they may be done “with or without their parents’/guardians’ knowledge”; “The support of a parent/guardian is not required for a school accommodation request or accommodation fulfillment” (a.k.a changing school records).
Please note that both policies state that students have the right to be addressed by their chosen name and pronoun while attending school, as per the Ontario Human Right’s Code.
We are simply hoping that our policy can be amended to include PARENTAL CONSENT AGE GUIDELINES, as the Catholic Board does, with regards to CHANGING STUDENT RECORDS (a.k.a. ACCOMODATION REQUESTS). This is not to say that teachers are to disclose gender identity, “out” their students to parents or put them in harms way, nor to violate the Human Right’s Code. We are simply asking that there be PARENTAL CONSENT AGE GUIDELINES for students with regards to changing student records, just as the Catholic Board’s policy does.
We hope our policy can be amended to mirror the Catholic Board’s policy.
Thank you for time.”
**please note the motion was pulled off the table (motion in comments) and not voted on**
**Trustee Burgess inquired about which Catholic board was being referred to in the speech. ALL trustees were given BOTH GECDSB and WECDSB regulation documents to correspond with speakers for the last TWO board meetings. That said, she should know which Catholic board we were referring to if she looked at the regulations (the board names are at the TOP), right?