Florida education officials have passed a new rule requiring public and private schools to allow students to access bathrooms and locker rooms based on biological sex rather than preferred gender identity. The Florida Board of Education unanimously approved a new rule that, among other things, requires public and private schools to restrict trans-identified youth from using facilities based on their gender identity without notifying parents and making a public announcement online. “If a school board or private school governing board has a policy or procedure that allows for separation of bathrooms or locker rooms according to some criteria other than biological sex at birth, the policy or procedure must be posted on the district’s website or private school’s website, and must be sent by mail to student residences to fully inform parents,” reads the new rule
“School board and private school governing board policies or procedures must include accommodations or modifications in order to ensure that all students have an opportunity to use a bathroom or locker room separated by biological sex at birth.” Board of Education Chairman Thomas R. Grady said in a statement that the rule is more about “parental notification.” “It’s not mandating what a particular bathroom looks like or doesn’t look like or who can use it,” Grady said after the adoption. LGBT advocacy groups and activists are critical of the new rule. Socially conservative groups and activists support the new rule. “Not just girls, not just boys, all students need to feel safe in the bathrooms and in their locker rooms. “We need to let parents know how they are being monitored,” said The Tampa Bay Times.
In March, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill to prohibit public schools and from discussing sexual orientation and gender identity with students between up to third grade. The bill also requires school districts to adopt procedures to notify parents about changes affecting their child’s mental, physical and emotional health and prevents school districts from withholding information from parents. “Parents’ rights have been increasingly under assault around the nation, but in Florida we stand up for the rights of parents and the fundamental role they play in the education of their children,” stated DeSantis earlier this year. “Parents have every right to be informed about services offered to their child at school, and should be protected from schools using classroom instruction to sexualize their kids as young as 5 years old.” The Heritage Foundation reports that some school districts weren’t informing parents if their child was identifying as the opposite gender.
Source: Christian Post
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