I have been watching with interest the Biden administration’s proposed revisions to Title IX, the law which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in schools. The revisions include weighty ideas like allowing those born male to participate in female sports, share locker rooms, bath rooms, etc. They also include difficult topics like requiring compliance with preferred pronouns. All of these changes would be significant enough to merit a board discussion and lots of community input.
Here is a little more about the proposed revisions: https://www.edweek.org/…/which-states-have-sued…/2024/07
I watched as more than half of the states filed lawsuits because the proposed revisions were so out of bounds for what an agency can “decree.” Ten days ago, on July 23, I sent an email asking for assurances that our District was going to implement only changes which had been directed by the community’s representatives, the Board of Education (or, as the state statutes name them, the “Board of Directors.”)
Then, barely two days later, before any response on whether the Board would meet to develop and issue a statement on what the Ozark School District was going to do — or not do — with the proposed revisions, the lawsuit to which Missouri was a party received its expected outcome: an injunction stopping the implementation of the new revisions. The federal appeals court ruled that there was enough evidence that the case for enforcing the revisions would ultimately be lost, so nothing should be changed or enforced. So, I sent another email with an update, urging my fellow board members to meet so we could discuss what, if any, response the Board should make about the District’s stance now that an injunction halting the changes had been issued. Here’s a little more on that court case’s injunction: https://justthenews.com/…/another-judge-issues…
I was dismayed beyond explanation to discover on this past Tuesday night, July 30, that the heading of the Title IX section of the District website had incorrectly been changed to state that the Board had taken action to meet the “new requirements” of the Title IX revisions, and I wrote another email to say as much. That heading has been corrected now, and a note clarifying that was sent to all employees as well. The federal revisions distributed as “new requirements” have been halted, and our District policy has not been changed to become compliant with them. The Board has not met to discuss those proposed revisions yet, and I want to assure you that no action will be taken to revise our Title IX policies without a public Board meeting to discuss it.
Please feel free to keep in touch with us, your representatives who are directing the District as you desire. You may find our contact info here: https://simbli.eboardsolutions.com/AboutUs/AboutUs.aspx…
(See part 2 of this issue, where I propose a statement for the Board to consider using to clarify our position on the issue…)
*As always, I speak only for myself and do not intend to represent the Board to you in any way in what I say or write. I do, however, fully and firmly intend to represent YOU to the Board!