Linn-Mar approves updated transgender student policy to comply with Iowa law

MARION, Iowa (KCRG) – At the August 28th, school board meeting the Linn-Mar Community School District approved a set of new policies regarding transgender students.

These policy updates make the school compliant with Iowa state law that requires teachers report if a student requests to use a different name or pronoun to both an administrator and the student’s parents.

One member of the school board Matt Rollinger said he was still concerned of how little access parents could have to a student’s private medical record at school, even if for example, a student tells a school nurse that he or she is being abused by a parent.

Linn-Mar Community School District Board Member Rachel Wall asked fellow board member Matt Rollinger “Say we have a kiddo who’s being abused by a parent and they need to go to the nurse and they need to talk about that would you like the parent to have access to that?”

“Absolutely, parents come first,” replied Rollinger

The board passed the second reading six to one.

The policy on students disclosing their identity states “It is the goal of the district to provide a safe and supportive educational environment in which all students may learn. As part of creating that safe educational environment, no employee of the district will provide false or misleading information to the parent/guardian of a student regarding that student’s gender identity or intention to transition to a gender that is different from their birth certificate or certificate issued upon adoption.

If a student makes a request to a licensed employee to accommodate a gender identity, name, or pronoun that is different than what was assigned to the student in the student’s registration forms or records, the licensed employee is required by Iowa law to report the request to an administrator. The school administrator receiving the report is required by Iowa law to report the request to the student’s parent/guardian.

This requirement also applies to all nicknames. To maintain compliance with Iowa law and also provide efficiency in the reporting requirements listed above, the superintendent will provide the opportunity for parents and guardians to list in the student’s registration paperwork any and all nicknames used for students.”

For a full list of Linn-Mar’s policy series including the changes made on August 28th, click here.

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