Kentucky’s largest district prioritizes transgender inclusivity trainings as new law begins.
Kentucky School District Offers Transgender Inclusion Training to Teachers
Kentucky recently joined other Republican majority legislatures across the U.S. to ban permanent transgender medical treatments for minors. In the wake of Kentucky passing a bill banning discussion of sexuality and gender in schools, one of the state’s largest school districts is taking a different approach. The Jefferson County Public School District (JCPS) is offering a variety of transgender inclusion training to teachers.
Each month, the JCPS offers its teachers professional development opportunities, including trainings from the Department of Diversity, Equity, and Poverty (DEP). Starting in September, the JCPS DEP office is offering a variety of trainings on topics like equity, diversity, and transgender inclusion, among others.
The trainings have names like LGBTQ and a Sense of Belonging, LGBTQIA+ Inclusive Classrooms, Transgender 101: Terminology and Allyship and Shared Language, and Inclusive Spaces. These trainings examine how language can be used to make gay and transgender students feel welcomed and included.
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Despite Kentucky’s new law prohibiting the use of a child’s preferred pronouns and discussing gender ideology, these trainings are still offered each month to teachers.
The DEP office’s other teacher trainings include Genders and Sexualities Alliance Network, Transgender Intersectionality, Mental Health and Non-binary, Best Practices Serving LGBTQ+, and Religion and Sexuality (LGBTQ+).
These trainings are not mandatory, but teachers can sign up for the ones that interest them. Adam Thomas, a JCPS teacher with an 18-year history with the district, believes that transgender trainings are a part of a larger national phenomenon.
Thomas said, “The big push in the culture is this acceptance of all sorts of beliefs of gender and sexuality, and so that just trickles down into states and localities in school districts.”
He also mentioned that most teachers are fine with these transgender-focused trainings if it helps the students they are serving. However, some teachers may feel pressured to go along with the trainings out of fear of being labeled as racist, homophobic, or transphobic.
In August, the JCPS School Board approved the provisions for how the district will implement the new law. The final version of the school district’s transgender policies includes a Disclaimer stating that JCPS thinks the bill is discriminatory and causes harm. It also includes provisions for students with an official gender dysphoria diagnosis to receive accommodations, such as using the bathroom that matches their chosen gender.
The school board also added a provision about misgendering a student, stating that intentional, repeated, and ongoing misgendering may violate the Education Professional Standards Board (EPSB) Code of Ethics and constitute sexual harassment under Title IX.
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