Nashua School District applauded for accommodating transgender third-grader

[Shana A]

Nashua School District applauded for accommodating transgender third-grader

By MARYALICE GILL
Staff Writer

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/976504-469/nashua-school-district-applauded-for-accommodating-transgender.html

After facing complaints that a transgender student was being discriminated against, the Nashua School District has agreed to let the student enroll at a new elementary school and be addressed as a female by school staff.

Janson Wu, a staff attorney with Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, praised the Nashua School District for its efforts to accommodate the needs of the transgender third-grader.

"I applaud the Nashua School District's efforts to ensure that all students, including transgender students, are able to go to school safely and receive a good education," Wu said.

[Shana A]

September 24. 2012 10:18PM
Nashua school district, parents reach agreement on transgender 3rd-grader
By KIMBERLY HOUGHTON
Union Leader Correspondent

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20120925/NEWS04/709259939

NASHUA — One month after a transgender third-grade student transferred from one city school to another, the superintendent says no district-wide policy is necessary.

"We don't have a specific policy on transgender students, but we do have policies in place that prevent discrimination against students and bullying, and we regularly review those policies," Superintendent Mark Conrad said Monday.

Conrad refused to comment on the case involving the third-grader, whose family reached an agreement with the district that now allows her to wear girl's clothing, use her female name and use the female restroom.

The agreement was intended to help the student thrive in the classroom, Conrad said.

[Shana A]

Transgender Third-Grader Will Be Allowed to Use Girls' Bathroom
After switching schools, a transgender third-grader and her parents have reached an agreement with the Nashua, N.H., school district that allows her to wear girls' clothing and use the women's restroom.
BY Sunnivie Brydum
September 26 2012 6:01 PM ET

http://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2012/09/26/trans-third-grader-will-be-allowed-use-bathroom-girls

A transgender third-grader in New Hampshire will be allowed to wear clothing and use the bathroom that corresponds with her gender identity while at school, according to CBS Boston. The agreement, reached between the girl's parents and the Nashua County school district after the girl changed schools within the district, is a hopeful bright spot in a news landscape often littered with stories of trans and gender-nonconforming youth being bullied, harassed, and denied their identity by classmates, teachers, and school administrators.

Janson Wu, an attorney with Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders who represented the New Hampshire student, told the CBS affiliate that schools need to have policies in place to protect transgender and gender-variant youth, in addition to comprehensive antibullying policies.

[Shana A]

Sunday, September 30, 2012
Nashua transgender case a teachable moment
Telegraph Editorial

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/opinion/editorials/977366-465/nashua-transgender-case-a-teachable-moment.html

There was a time when public school policymakers didn't have to worry about ordering in drug-sniffing dogs to whiff at lockers, hiring police "resource" officers to ensure student safety or negotiating legal settlements with the parents of transgender grade-schoolers.

But more than ever, America's school systems function on the fault line of a long list of often controversial social conflicts. Drug use, bullying, gangs and sexual orientation are just four examples of issues that must be addressed and resolved if a school district is to achieve its primary mission of educating young people so they can become productive members of society.

"The issues that public schools must often address mirror the broader issues in our society," Nashua Superintendent Mark Conrad told The Telegraph. "To the extent these issues reflect differing or even divisive opinions in the general community, we must find ways to address those issues to balance competing viewpoints while assuring we are protecting the rights of all children and ensuring their success."

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Sunday, September 30, 2012

School districts say nondiscrimination policies protect transgender students

By MARYALICE GILL
Staff Writer

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/977392-469/school-districts-say-nondiscrimination-policies-protect-transgender.html

NASHUA – The Nashua School District's agreement to allow a third-grade transgender student to attend a new elementary school and be treated as a female in "every aspect" has triggered media attention across the country and policy conversation at local districts.

"I don't recall the last time an issue has generated this much interest on this type of subject," Superintendent Mark Conrad said Wednesday.

In May, the School District reached a settlement with the mother of a transgender girl after addressing discrimination complaints from earlier in the 2011-12 school year. The district agreed to identify the student by female name in educational records and to grant her access to the restrooms used by her female classmates at her new school.