DISD to quietly add trans protections Thursday

[w8liftinglady]

(For the record,my partner teaches in the DISD. They have a large lgbt staff presence)

http://www.dallasvoice.com/category/instant-tea/news-instant-tea

A few weeks ago we reported that the Dallas school board is considering a series of policy changes designed to protect transgender students and employees against discrimination and harassment.

Well, it looks like the changes — in the form of amendments to six separate DISD policies — are on now the board’s Consent Agenda for its regular meeting this Thursday, meaning there’s no opposition and they’re expected to be approved without discussion.

The DISD board went over the changes during a briefing session two weeks ago.

“There was actually very little discussion of it at all,” said Resource Center Dallas’ Rafael McDonnell, who attended the briefing session. “There was more time talking about the addition of ‘genetic information,’ which is a federal requirement, than there was about adding gender identity or gender expression.

“I think in this case it shows the trustees remember the discussion we had last fall when the bullying policy was passed,” McDonnell said. “They were already familiar with the concept of gender identity and expression.”

McDonnell said DISD will become the third district in the state to ban discrimination and harassment based on gender identity and expression.

“I think this is an incredibly positive step for DISD,” he said. “We’d love to see other districts follow in the footsteps of Fort Worth ISD, Houston ISD and DISD.”

[midnight]

1. What does the I mean in DISD? Carlos Vasquez speaks for a lot of schools in America.

"After careful consideration I have come to the conclusion that many of the problems faced with public education are attributable to a broken State Government in Austin. With over four billion dollars cut in public education we need to refocus on what matters most, a strong public school system."