The advisory said students should be able to use restrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. Superintendents from Coast Unified School District and Paso Robles Unified School District provided similar statements.
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The guidance states that there is “no obligation for a student to present a specific medical diagnosis or identification documents that reflect his or her gender identity,”.
Eidahl said he is not yet sure how the district will respond to the recently issued guidance.
The ruling comes amid controversy over transgender rights, particularly around access to public bathrooms.
Ms Lynch said North Carolina’s new state law had echoes of policies of racial segregation and efforts to deny gay couples the right to marry. Under the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the federal government has no authority to interfere in local school districts’ bathroom policies.
Boardman School District has signed on as making its bathrooms and locker rooms gender neutral.
Shorewood adopted its transgender policy in 2014, only the second in the state behind Madison to do so. That includes transgender bathrooms.
An anti-bullying campaign that focused on the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity diffused the situation, Chapman said.
He says that understanding is critical to overcoming fear of the unknown, which he thinks fueled the birth of the North Carolina’s law.
McCrory characterized Obama’s advisory as government overreach.
The White House deflected backlash against a new directive on the use of school bathrooms by transgender students, saying the guidance was given in direct response to questions from school administrators about how to deal with the emotionally charged issue.
The policy in place already had accommodations for students based on their gender identity.
School Board Attorney Jeff Smith says like it or not it’s something the school will have to address.
“My office would never dictate how locally elected school boards should manage their restroom facilities”, Douglas said in a statement Friday. Nancy “Mama Nia” Wilson, executive director of SpiritHouse, an arts and organizing group in Durham, said she asks people after she explains the law.
“I don’t think you’ll see any change in position unless the court system says you have to change position”, Christian said.
Schools can not require a transgender student to use separate facilities, although they may allow students who object to the new arrangement to use individual restrooms or changing facilities, the letter states.
But sometimes there are mistakes.
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San Mateo Union High School District also accommodated transgender students’ bathroom preferences for several years, even before the state mandate was passed.
