Iowa schools debate removing ‘gender identity’ from non-discrimination policies

MARION — The Linn-Mar school board Monday unanimously upheld more than a dozen policies that provide gender identity protections to students and staff.

A new Iowa law that strips gender identity protections from the Iowa Civil Rights Act is putting a spotlight on school policies — at Linn-Mar and districts across the state — that reference gender identity.

Some school boards have approved removing “gender identity” from antibullying and harassment policies to align with Iowa law. Others — like Linn-Mar — have voted down removing “gender identity” from their policies, saying removing it is not required by the law at this time.

Still other districts haven’t had any recommended changes to their policies brought to their school boards.

  Buy Photo

“For me, what it comes down to is this: Removing gender identity (from the policies) is not something we are legally required to do, as our attorney confirmed. This is a preemptive recommendation aimed at reducing a potential but albeit vague legal risk,” Linn-Mar school board member Melissa Walker said Monday.

“I personally believe it asks us to compromise too much of our own integrity as a district,” said Walker, who is on the district’s policy committee. “It would weaken the clarity of our own values and dilute our commitment to protecting all kids in our schools.”

Iowa schools also are removing the word “equity” from their policies and job titles in favor of the word “equality.” The move comes in response to the U.S. Department of Education, under the Trump administration, instructing districts to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs and practices.

Linn-Mar school board member Brittania Morey said students, families and teachers expect equity in education.

“Equality means everyone comes to school and gets the exact same thing. Nothing more, nothing less,” Morey said at a school board meeting last month. ”Equity allows us to personalize student learning. It’s why special education exists. It’s why advanced learning exists.”

  Buy Photo

“Equity is what creates interventions and how we have classes taught in a variety of formats to adhere to the fact that people learn in different ways and they have different learning styles,” Morey said.

More than a dozen people spoke at Linn-Mar school board meetings Monday and on June 9 — when the policies were first presented to the board for consideration — urging the board to reject the recommendation to remove “gender identity” from district policies.

Kat Power, sponsor of Spectrum, the student-led gay-straight alliance at Linn-Mar High School, said removing “gender identity” from a protected class in the district’s policies would be “reckless.”

“If you care about protecting vulnerable kids, if you care about creating safe, inclusive schools, you won’t do this,” Power, who also is a special-education teacher at Linn-Mar High, said during public comment on June 9.

Laura Thomas, a Linn-Mar school board member who also is on the district’s policy committee, said they consulted the district’s lawyers — Ahlers & Cooney — and lawyers at the Iowa Association of School Boards in making their recommendation to remove “gender identity” from the policies.

  Buy Photo

Ultimately, Thomas voted Monday against removing “gender identity” from district policies.

Gender identity “is a lived experience that no one can take away from you or manipulate you into changing, as much as you can change the color of your eyes,” Thomas said.

She also voiced concerns that by not changing the policy language, the board could be opening the district up to civil suits.

“Those who support removing gender identity from these policies may not be physically in this room, but they are a constant presence in our emails, in multiple Freedom of Information Requests and in Iowa Public Information Board complaints about the Linn-Mar district,” Thomas said. “They continue to harass and attempt to undermine the district’s work. We may not see them here, but this board feels their scrutiny and criticism every day of our existence.”

“We do not have an eighth member of this board known as social media, but it’s very powerful and it can feel very cruel,” school board President Katie Lowe Lancaster said.

Morey said even though the Iowa Civil Rights Act no longer “stands behind our policy” it doesn’t make the policy illegal.

“I’m completely opposed to the removal of gender identity and many other words in these policies,” Morey said. “If the day comes and it’s 100 percent the law, I will reconsider. Today, there is a distinction between what we’re legally required to do and what we’re allowed to do.”

Linn-Mar school board member Midhat Mansoor said the policy recommendation was an attempt to be “proactive,” but it’s not what’s best for students.

The decision to maintain “gender identity” as a protected class in the district’s policies brought tears to Wren Parsons eyes.

Parsons, 46, has two children in the neighboring Cedar Rapids Community School District. As a transgender person, they felt it was important to show up for the Linn-Mar school board’s discussion.

“It matters when students walk into a building that they know they’re protected,” Parsons said.

The Johnston and Ankeny school boards also have voted to keep “gender identity” in their policies.

School boards for the Iowa City Community School District and College Community School District in Cedar Rapids voted earlier this year to remove “gender identity” from their policies, according to board documents.

“The policies have been updated on our website to reflect the changes and ensure compliance with state guidance,” Iowa City district spokeswoman Kristin Pedersen said in an email to The Gazette.

The Clear Creek Amana school board will consider recommendations to remove “gender identity” from district policies at their next meeting July 16.

No legal requirement to remove ‘gender identity’ from school policy

The school board for Johnston Community School District, north of Des Moines, rejected removing “gender identity” from its policies in a 4-3 vote.

Johnston board member Jason Arnold said transgender people are “under relentless attack” and there is no legal requirement at this time for schools to remove “gender identity” from their policies, according to board minutes.

Arnold — who voted “no” to the policy change — said removing gender identity from policies would be “pre-complying” with anticipated legal changes.

Danielle Haindfield, a lawyer with the district’s legal representation from Ahlers & Cooney — which represents Linn-Mar and other Iowa school districts — said the guidance to remove gender identity from their policies is “not fluff.” The recommendation was not made “in haste or fear” but in the “best interest” of the district, Haindfield said, according to meeting minutes.

However, Haindfield said the district’s legal counsel will support the district regardless of the board’s decision.

Policy rescinded that references laws that ‘no longer exist’

The Linn-Mar school board in April rescinded a policy that protected transgender students from discrimination, saying it references Iowa laws that “no longer exist.”

The policy Transgender and Students Nonconforming to Gender Role Stereotypes was adopted by the school board in April 2022 after being hotly debated.

A second policy — 503.13-R, also adopted in April 2022 — that aimed to protect transgender and nonbinary students was rescinded less than a year later in March 2023.

The policies were intended to allow all students to advocate for themselves, feel comfortable at school, receive support from staff and work with staff and families to create a plan to help students succeed.

Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com