UPDATED: Durham’s new non-discrimination policy passed on Thursday after a lengthy discussion. Ultimately, the board decided to add language protecting immigration legal status as a protected class, while requesting further follow-up/research from staff. The board added the wording Thursday unilaterally, above and beyond staff recommendations.
Also, three B&R readers spoke Truth in a bizarre public comment period of distilled, archetypal progressivism. See 40:15-60:00
ORIGINAL
The Durham School Board’s Thursday meeting will take up an update to its non-discrimination policy.
The updated policy language is in red, posted by the Board for citizen review.
The school board is looking to add, among other things, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity to protected classes. The reason for the change isn’t entirely clear, though watching prior meeting videos where this change was brought up would likely shed light on that.
The change comes even as new laws from the legislature directly affect how schools will handle LGBT issues.
More specifically, Thursday is the first opportunity for public comment since the state legislature successfully overrode vetoes of several bills regarding LGBT issues and kids, two of which directly affect the schools.
- HB574 — Fairness in Women’s Sports — limits student sports categories to “a student’s sex … recognized based solely on the student’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” The bill covers middle school through college, including NCAA competition in the state.
Last year, a North Carolina high school volleyball player received head and neck injuries when a trans-identifying male spiked the ball into her head, leading the Cherokee County school board to decide to forfeit all future games against the male’s school. - SB49 — Parents Bill of Rights — covers a number of issues the Banner & Record hopes to analyze more closely in the coming days, time permitting.
Perhaps most notably, the bill overrules Durham policy encouraging school officials to hide gender transitions, etc., from parents, a fact board member Natalie Beyer decried. Opponents lambast the bill as requiring schools to “out students to their parents.”
The bill also limits teaching the concepts of sexual orientation or gender identity to fifth grade or later and creates a number of requirements and postures for school systems to be more transparent with parents.
Public comments will be allowed in-person only at 6:30 p.m. Speakers will have three minutes for their comments and may sign up on-site. General public comment on any issue takes place at 6:30, though public comment can also take place on specific agenda items as the board takes them up.
This is the first chance parents have to express to policy makers that SB49 does not grant them new rights. As the Declaration of Independence implies, the government does not grant rights, but merely recognizes them. The government does not have the authority claim it is taking the option of deigning to stoop down and provide the polite courtesy of letting parents know their child’s sexual proclivities.
Examples of Durham policies that may be affected by SB49
Triangle Reformation Banner & Record 