Zooming in
As the gender policy topic was previously discussed at meetings in May and June, board President Misty Odenweller addressed the next steps the district would need to take.
“We have a legal policy in place but what we don't have is a policy or any written procedures that outline specific gender-related topics. If we have nothing in place, we can't expect actions to be consistent or enforced district-wide [or] campus-wide,” Odenweller said.
According to the board agenda, the district pulled examples of gender policies from nearby districts, including Katy ISD, as well as from around the state such as Frisco ISD and Carrollton ISD.
Carrie Galatas, CISD's general legal counsel, will present the board with a draft of a policy similar to the one shared at the Sept. 23 meeting regarding the district’s book policy, as previously reported by Community Impact.
“I noticed in [the policies] there’s a confusion of terms and some don't use the same terms. They define terms but then never use the terms,” Galatas said regarding gender policy examples.
How we got here
In May, the board did not take action on forming a policy similar to the one adopted in KISD outlining how students and teachers discuss gender identity, as previously reported by Community Impact.
The KISD policy requires pronouns used on campus to reflect the person’s biological sex, excludes gender fluidity content from classroom and instructional materials, and maintains separations based on biological sex in facilities such as bathrooms and locker rooms, among other requirements, Community Impact previously reported.
What’s next
The board will discuss the policy and its proposed version of a gender policy at the Jan. 20 meeting at the Deane L. Sadler Administration/Technology Center at 3205 W. Davis St. in Conroe.
