RALEIGH — The Wake County Public Schools Board of Education approved changes to its discrimination and bullying policy at its meeting on July 16 in order to align with the Biden administration’s alteration of Title IX that redefines sex to include gender identity.
The changes to the Wake County Public Schools (WCPSS) policy passed by a vote of 7-2.
Board members Chris Heagarty, Lindsay Mahaffey, Lynn Edmonds, Tyler Swanson, Monika Johnson-Hostler, Sam Hershey and Toshiba Rice voted in favor, while Cheryl Caulfield and Wing Ng voted against.
Those voting in favor defended the changes, claiming transgender students should be protected from discrimination. The seven in the majority also argued they were just following the law.
Of the two opposed, only Caulfield spoke up, questioning putting the majority of students at risk through access to “shared spaces.” An example given was a scenario where a female might be forced to share a hotel room with a transgender female on a school field trip.
Under the policy changes, failing to use preferred pronouns, misgendering someone or segregating shared spaces like bathrooms or field trip hotel rooms based on biological sex could be considered sexual harassment.
Caulfield offered an amendment to the policy changes that would have made exemptions possible in some situations. The amendment was voted down after the district’s attorney said the board was required to make the changes due to a 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling dictating that students could use whatever shared facility they wished based on gender identity.
Caulfield called the proposed changes a “political agenda,” and that the new Title IX rule “undermines the very thing it was set up to do.”
“I think about how we say that we want our families to stay in public schools,” Caulfield said. “There’s a lot of talk of opposing Opportunity Scholarship vouchers for families that are seeking other opportunities for their children, yet we keep bringing in polarizing policies to the table.
“This policy will not only cause harm to our children but will cause confusion for our children as they are looking to us for leadership and protection. I am confused by our advice to keep pushing this.”
During the public comment portion of the meeting, several speakers pushed back on passing the policy changes.
More than 20 states, along with at least a dozen women’s advocacy and K-12-related groups, have sued to curtail the Title IX changes, and they have been blocked from taking effect in 14 states.
On July 2, Judge John W. Broomes of the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas issued an injunction on the Biden administration’s Title IX changes. Under the injunction, the Biden administration is prohibited from “implementing, enacting, enforcing, or taking any action” in an attempt to enforce its Title IX rewrite.
The plaintiffs involved in the case include the states of Alaska, Kansas, Utah and Wyoming. Additional plaintiffs included members of Moms for Liberty and Young America’s Foundation.
Broomes’ injunction extends to “the schools attended by the members of Young America’s Foundation or Female Athletes United, as well as the schools attended by the children of the members of Moms for Liberty.” The ruling does not stipulate the Young America’s Foundation athletes or Moms for Liberty children need to be located in the states listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
Moms for Liberty’s national office did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.
Wake County Moms for Liberty Chair Becky Hobbs, who spoke out at the board meeting, told North State Journal the WCPSS board seems to “pick and choose when they follow the rules.”
“They delayed implementation of the parents’ bill of rights but jumped all over this,” Hobbs said. She expressed concerns about a possible “misuse and abuse” of the current policy changes as well as past policy changes with regard to pronouns.
Hobbs said failure to use pronouns could result in students being disciplined over what equates to compelled speech. She claimed forced pronoun usage not only goes against the use of proper grammar but also some people’s faith.
“It’s things like this that disregard the wishes of parents,” said Moms for Liberty N.C. Legislative Committee Chair Julie Page of WCPSS’s policy change.
