Written by: Pamplin Media Group, Newberg Graphic 

Newberg officials don't anticipate any changes as district policy already forbids discrimination against all students

SALEM — A group that represents school boards across Oregon praised the release earlier this month of new state guidelines for how schools treat transgender students.

The document, which suggests schools allow transgender students to choose the names and bathrooms of their preference and select the intramural sports teams on which they play, could prove to be controversial in some districts. However, the Oregon School Boards Association said it provided crucial guidance to school officials who are increasingly raising questions about how to handle the situations.

“(The questions are) coming from everywhere,” said Spencer Lewis, member services attorney and policy specialist at Oregon School Boards Association. “We’ve had big districts, we’ve had small districts, we’ve had eastern Oregon districts ... I know Portland has had (transgender student) procedures in place for several years, but that doesn’t mean the communities around Portland aren’t asking questions as well.”

Lewis, who was involved in developing the new state guidelines, said “there’s definitely some value in (Oregon Department of Education) giving a foundation to districts saying, ‘Here’s the law that’s out there, here are some paths you can take to avoid litigation, frankly.’”

The OSBA has previously discouraged districts from adopting local policies on transgender students, instead encouraging districts to make sure their non-discrimination polices are up-to-date and comply with state law on protections for transgender and gender non-conforming students.

Newberg Public Schools communications director Claudia Stewart said the district does not have a policy or administrative regulation specifically directed to transgender students. She added that its nondiscrimination policy was updated last fall and already protects all students from discrimination and harassment, so the district doesn’t anticipate changes to policy or procedures.

Although the Oregon Department of Education guidelines are new, they largely reflect existing laws and legal precedents, according to Lewis and the ODE.

Under state law, it is illegal to discriminate against students at public schools that receive state funding, including based on their gender identification, according to ODE guidelines. It is also illegal for programs that receive federal funding to discriminate against people on the basis of sex, and the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights has determined federal law protects transgender and non-gender conforming students.

The ODE suggested strategies for districts to protect students’ gender identity in school records, to make sure teachers and administrators refer to a student by his or her preferred name and pronoun to avoid outing the student.

“As with most other issues involved with creating a safe and supportive environment for transgender students, the best course is to engage the student, and possibly the parents, with respect to name and pronoun use,” the department wrote in the document.

The ODE warned the guidelines are not legal advice, but since they are based on anti-discrimination laws and precedents schools could risk losing funding or going to court if they ignore them.

“It would depend on what, if any, laws were being violated,” spokeswoman Amy Wojcicki wrote in an email. “If it is a federal law, the U.S. Department of Civil Rights would have jurisdiction. If it is a state law being violated (such as harassment or bullying), after receiving complaint and investigating, ODE would issue an order against the district and if they did not comply there would be possible withholding of state funds.”