Walking The Line

Under political pressure the Fort Worth Texas school district has backed away from its trans policy.

Fort Worth Revises Transgender Student Guidelines
Texas Tribune
By Isabelle Taft
July 20, 2016

The Fort Worth Independent School District issued new guidelines on Wednesday for accommodating transgender students, making minor revisions that prompted Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton to declare victory in their assault on the district's previous policy.

Fort Worth ISD found itself in the middle of a statewide controversy in April when it issued an eight-page set of guidelines instructing district employees to acknowledge transgender students’ gender identity and provide accommodations. Patrick flew to Fort Worth to hold a press conference decrying the policies and requested an opinion on their legality from Paxton.

The new guidelines, condensed to two pages, affirm transgender students’ right to accommodations but eliminate a portion of the April guidelines that told schools not to out transgender students to their parents out of concern for their safety.

The new guidelines require parents to be involved with students and administrators in developing a “student individual support plan,” including provisions for bathroom use. Clint Bond, a spokesman for Fort Worth ISD, said the change was insignificant.

As I wrote about a couple of weeks ago this policy comes very close to violation the  Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and HIPAA and that in some cases it might depending upon the age of the student.

The LGBT Nation said that the changes came about because of the State’s Attorney General butting in,

The revision came after a series of community meetings where “it was clear there was much misinformation and misunderstanding about this policy,” Scribner said.

State Attorney General Ken Paxton last month issued a non-binding opinion suggesting Fort Worth schools were violating Texas law with the restroom guidelines.

He had claimed that Texas’ sixth-largest school district relegated “parents to a subordinate status” since the policy was created without their proper input or consent. Paxton, a Republican, had argued the guidelines violated state education code.

His opinion was sought by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a fellow Republican who had unsuccessfully demanded Scribner’s resignation.

At least the district only backed off a little and kept most of the policy intact.