A middle school cross country coach at Gilbert is “transitioning” from male to female and athletes are now required to call the individual by “she/her” pronouns as well as “Miss.” The coach is also a special education instructor.
The Iowa Standard reached out to the district on Thursday, asking if parents were notified about this situation and if the biological male would have access to the female locker room areas.
Gilbert Middle School principal Mike Danilson forwarded the message to Troy Banning, the district’s director of communications.
Banning responded:
“Thank you for your email. It is district policy to not comment on personnel matters of any of our employees.”
We thanked him for his response and asked if this means parents have not been notified. We also asked if district policy allows teachers, coaches and individuals to use the bathroom and locker room that corresponds to their gender identity.
According to the district’s directory for this year, the teacher is being called by a female name. In previous years the teacher was called by a male name.
I can’t imagine the confusion of young people in the school who have worked with this individual. The best decision for all would be to move to another district and start over.
This situation is certain to lead to incidents, accusations and lawsuits in the future.