Maine school district will vote on whether to restore transgender protections

The board of a midcoast school district is set to vote this week on whether to reverse its controversial June decision to delete a policy that provided guidance on how to protect transgender students.

The Regional School Unit 40 board — which represents the towns of Warren, Union, Friendship, Washington and Waldoboro — is scheduled to vote on restoring the policy at its Thursday meeting, according to an agenda .

The board narrowly voted to delete the transgender policy in June, after two public hearings in which people delivered hours of public comment both for and against the decision. The final vote was 8-8 to delete the policy. Though a tie, some voting members carried more weight because of the size of the towns they represent.

But soon after the decision, multiple school board seats went up for election in the district. With three newly elected board members who had opposed deleting the policy, it appeared there could be more support for reversing the decision.

The policy required several things of staff in RSU 40, including keeping the identity of transgender students private if that’s their choice, allowing the students to use the restrooms that most closely match their gender identities and using their chosen names and pronouns.

Superintendent Steve Nolan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Jules Walkup is a Report for America corps member. Additional support for this reporting is provided by BDN readers.