Policies advanced by the Berwick Area School Board on Monday night target and endanger transgender students, advocates say.
One policy would require staff to call students by their legal name, unless parents provide written permission — and deliver it in person.
Another policy details the use of district bathrooms or locker rooms. Students may only access multi-user facilities, such as a locker room or multi-stall bathroom, based on their biological sex. Single-user facilities may be used by any student, and the policy states the district may add more single-user facilities when new buildings are constructed or existing facilities are renovated.
School directors must approve a second reading of the policies — which could come at the Sept. 8 board meeting — before they’re official.
The name policy and bathroom and locker room policy are the latest attack on Berwick students within the LGBTQ+ community, advocates say. In October 2024, the board banned employees from displaying most flags on district property, including the rainbow-colored Pride flag.
'Life and death' vote
Community members filled the board meeting room, speaking both for and against the policy, according to a recording of the meeting published on YouTube by the Columbia County chapter of Defense of Democracy and viewed by WVIA News.
“My child is not going to feel safe at school because of this policy,” Kristina Culver, the mother of a transgender child and member of Defense of Democracy, said after the vote. “This is life and death, and it’s not common sense to treat children like this … I’m so hurt for all the kids who don’t know this is coming.”
If the name policy is officially enacted next month, teachers would have to stop calling students by their name of choice, and revert back to their legal name — because “the school board said so,” Culver said.
The policy calls for school personnel to refer to each student using the student's legal first, middle or last name, or a derivative of the name, or a nickname commonly associated with the student's legal name.
Hollenback Twp. resident Dan Jensen encouraged the board to approve the policies.
“You cannot change your sex, I don't know where all this other stuff is coming from,” he said. “Protect our students by keeping traditional values in our school.”
Jacob Kelley, a gender and sexuality expert and a Berwick native, has provided the board with data and facts and questioned how far the board is willing to go in checking the sex of children.
“Where does it stop?” Kelley asked. “The choice and vote that you’ll have today … will impact the students you probably will never see, the hallways you will never know and definitely impact your teachers.”
School directors approved the policies with no public debate or comment. Efforts to reach Jared Yost, board president, were not immediately successful Tuesday.
Policy details, teacher perspective
The name policy defines sex, gender identity and legal names and compels staff to only use the names and pronouns for the sex included in the student’s official records.
If the parent or guardian provides written permission for a change in name or pronoun, the district will not compel employees or other students to address or refer to any person in any manner “that would violate the conscience of the speaker.”
“If school personnel cannot use a requested pronoun as a matter of conscience, then as a reasonable accommodation for the school personnel, they need not do so, but must avoid addressing the student by the unwanted first name and pronoun,” according to the policy.
Sue Jarrett teaches at the middle school. In her 27-year career, many students have come out to her, fearful of how their families would react.
Before using a different pronoun or calling a student by a different name, she may soon have to check a student’s records. She asked the board to reconsider the policy.
“I want to call a student what they preferred to be called,” Jarrett said.
