At its Monday meeting, Superintendent Linda Dwight showed the School Committee a letter she planned to send to the school community on the topic of transgender rights. She said that the change in federal policy, by which transgender students were no longer protected under Title IX, had happened during February vacation. Not everyone knew that Massachusetts had its own legal protections, she said, and some families raised questions after school reopened. Dwight’s letter quoted Massachusetts Commissioner of Education Mitchell Chester, who explained that state law prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity.
“We’re going to follow the state law,” she said, “not just because it is the law, but because it is the right thing to do.” She asked committee members if they wished to co-sign the letter, and they agreed unanimously to do so.
