On April 25, the Linn-Mar School Board (Linn County, Iowa) voted 5-2 to allow men in women’s restrooms, allow male and female students to share overnight accommodations, threaten teachers and students who refuse to use “preferred pronouns,” and transition students without informing parents.
KEY POINTS FROM LINN-MARR’S NEW POLICY
(Emphases added)
School officials are required to hide information from parents about their child’s sexual behavior and mental health:
- “The district shall not disclose information that may reveal a student’s transgender status to others including but not limited to students, parents, and school staff unless legally required to do so…”
- “School staff should always check with the student first before contacting their parent/guardian.”
- “Any student in seventh grade or older will have priority of their support plan over their parent/guardian.”
- “The student should agree with who is a part of the meeting, including whether their parent/guardian will participate.”
- “Building administration and/or staff shall not notify parents of other students regarding a trans or gender nonconforming student’s housing accommodations.” For example, if a male student is rooming with female students because he identifies as a woman.
- “The Gender Support Plan will be maintained in the student’s temporary records, not the student’s permanent records,” which will “only be accessible to staff members that the student has authorized in advance to do so.” This is because “a parent/guardian has the right to review” their child’s permanent records under FERPA, but not their temporary records.
Teachers and students are required to use made-up pronouns on the whim of any student:
- “Every student has the right to be addressed by a name and pronoun that corresponds to their gender identity. A court-ordered name or gender change is not required…”
- “An intentional and/or persistent refusal by staff or students to respect a student’s gender identity is a violation of school board policies.”
- “Repeated or intentional misgendering is a form of bullying and harassment.”
- “Policies prohibiting harassment and discrimination on the basis of sex also include harassment based on gender identity and expression.”
Parents cannot stop Linn-Mar from transitioning their child:
- “Within 10 school days of receiving a request from a student, regardless of age, or a parent/guardian (with the student’s consent), the district shall change a student’s name and/or gender marker in student technology logins, email systems, student identification cards, non-legal documents such as diplomas and awards, yearbooks, and at events such as graduation.”
Students can use whichever bathroom or locker room they want:
- “Students shall have access to facilities that correspond to their gender identity.”
- “Buildings may maintain separate restrooms, locker rooms, or changing facilities for male and female students provided they allow students to access them based on their gender identity.”
- “No student shall be required to use an all-gender or secure-access restroom, a nurse’s restroom, a privacy partition/curtain, and/or an all-gender locker room because they are transgender, gender nonconforming, or questioning their gender.”
- If a student objects, he or she must be the one to use a different bathroom: “Any student who is uncomfortable using a shared facility regardless of the reason shall, upon the student’s and/or a parent/guardian request, be provided with a safe and nonstigmatizing alternative.”
Male and female students can share bedrooms on school trips:
- “Students shall be allowed to room with other students who share their gender identity or where they feel safest and most included.”
- “No student should be forced to room by themselves because they are transgender, gender nonconforming, or questioning their gender.”
- Parents shall not be informed: “Building administration and/or staff shall not notify parents of other students regarding a trans or gender nonconforming student’s housing accommodations.”
Men shall be allowed in women’s sports, possibly violating Iowa law:
- “All students shall be permitted to participate in physical education classes, intramural sports, clubs, and school events in a manner consistent with their gender identity.”
- However, the district may intend to follow Iowa’s Save Girl’s Sports law: “As a member of the Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) and the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU), the district follows their policies and recommendations for transgender athletic participation.”
False gender ideology is now Linn-Mar policy:
- “Sex Assigned at Birth: Typically, the assignment of male or female at birth by a medical professional based on visible body parts. This binary assignment does not reflect the natural diversity of bodies or experiences.”
- “One’s gender identity can be the same or different than the gender assigned at birth. … All people have a gender identity, not just transgender people. Gender identity is an innate, largely inflexible characteristic of each individual’s personality that is generally established by age four …”
- “Transition: … In children, adolescents, and adults it is increasingly common for gender transition to be an ongoing process.”
Linn-Marr’s policy applies to “all school activities, school-provided transportation, and school-sponsored events.”
You can read the policy for yourself here.
NEXT STEPS:
You can contact the Linn-Mar school board members by email here. If you live in the Linn-Mar school district, four of the seven members of the Linn-Mar school board will be up for reelection in November 2023.
You can also contact your state legislator to let them know how badly we need school choice in Iowa. To contact your legislator using our quick and easy tool, please click here.
