Transgender students in Hartland must now meet with staff to use preferred bathroom

HARTLAND TWP. — Hartland Consolidated Schools is implementing a policy that will require transgender students to have a confidential “wrap-around” meeting to use the bathroom that reflects their gender identity.

The HCS Board of Education voted 4-1 in favor of the policy on Monday, July 22. Chris Costa was the dissenting vote. Board President Meghan Glabach and Glenn Gogoleski were absent.

The policy essentially creates a series of steps transgender students must follow in order to use the restroom with which they identify. The district said the protocol complies with federal law.

According to the policy, students wishing to use a restroom that correlates differently than the gender recorded on their birth certificate must have a “wrap-around” meeting that includes a school administrator, parents and/or guardians, other appropriate school personnel, and/or outside family, therapists, or doctors.

In situations where educators are aware parental knowledge may threaten the student’s safety and/or welfare, parents or guardians may be excluded. The meetings, officials said, are held on a case-by-case basis and are confidential.

The policy states HCS “believes all students have a fundamental right to be comfortable while using the bathroom.” It also states individuals who claim “false gender identity for improper purposes” may be subject to disciplinary action.

HCS Superintendent Chuck Hughes said the meeting will allow transgender students to have a confidential conversation with staff.

“This is not a situation where we would create a list and share it with the (school) board or share it with anybody,” Hughes said. “This is not for everybody to know. This is that child and that family’s right to be able to keep that information within the realm that we only know if we need to know.”

Hughes clarified that school board members are not school personnel.

More: Survey: Hartland teachers are fed up with their school board's politics

Board members chose the first of three policy options presented to them. The second didn't include the points about confidentiality or the possible exclusion of parents or guardians. The third required an "alternate" birth certificate indicating the student's preferred gender and notification of the school board.

Cindy Shaw felt the second option was too vague and didn’t believe the third was appropriate.

“I think (the first option) is the best way to put in as many guardrails as we can for students, administrators and families,” Shaw said.

Michelle Blondeel, who initially indicated she wouldn’t support the first option, said she changed her mind after listening to Shaw.

Hughes said there's a unisex restroom on the third floor of Hartland High School, two on second floor, and one on the first floor. Any student can use those restrooms, regardless of their gender identity, Hughes said. There are vacancy locks on the doors.

“Any student who has a need or desire for increased privacy, regardless of underlying reasons, has the right to access any gender-neutral/unisex restroom,” district policy states.

Hughes said the policy applies only to students, saying it's part of the “student handbook.”

Board Vice President Kristin Coleman said the first option was the most acceptable to her. Greg Keller said he wasn’t thrilled with any of the options but believed “having something is a step in the right direction."

”I’m not going to be celebrating, frankly,” he said.

In an email to The Daily, Hughes said, during his time as high school principal from 2000-2012, there were "no (negative) incidents that I recall" after a transgender student (or someone claiming to be a transgender student) used their preferred bathroom.

He added, to the best of his recollection, there have been "a few" reports of students feeling uncomfortable in the years since.

"The adopted restroom protocol makes it clear that there is a process for students and families to utilize and that restrooms are not open for any student to use any restroom they choose, as is the traditional expectation," Hughes wrote. He added there are also two unisex bathrooms available at the district's middle school.

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The policy was discussed June 17, but a vote was postponed. The American Civil Liberties Union wrote to the school board on June 14 with concerns about the proposed policy, saying it “singles out transgender students for discriminatory treatment regarding access to bathrooms and puts those students who are not out to their parents at risk for harm.”

Ella Nikitin, a Democratic candidate for District Four on the Livingston County Board of Commissioners and the first openly transgender candidate in the county, said during the call to the public on July 22 that “more gender-neutral bathrooms at this school would be great.” Nikitin is a graduate of Hartland High School.

In June 2023, the Hartland School Board voted to essentially ban pro-LGBTQ+ displays, including flags and stickers .

A recent survey showed 41% of HCS teachers and staff, when asked if they “value and support the operation of the district under the board of education," chose to “disagree or strongly disagree."

— Contact reporter Evan Sasiela at esasiela@livingstondaily.com . Follow him on Twitter @SalsaEvan .

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Transgender students in Hartland must now meet with staff to use preferred bathroom