The board is considering the proposal, which will make existing practices to better lives for transgender students, official.
PRINCETON - A proposed policy which could make the Princeton Public School District and school buildings more accessible to transgender students could go into effect as soon as tomorrow, following a Board of Education meeting Tuesday night.
Princeton High School in a file photo. The policy was introduced at a November board meeting and will be voted on at another meeting Tuesday. The proposal examined ways the district could codify practices to better the environment for transgender and gender nonconforming students, according to the proposal.
The proposal details various practices the district could make official, including preventing school faculty and staff from revealing a student's gender identity to anyone, unless the student's safety was an issue.
Andrea Spalla, President of the Board of Education said it's important to note that the practices outlined in the proposal have already been unofficially adapted by members of the school district; passing the proposal Tuesday would only make the existing practices into official protocol.
"We're not creating new law here... We're all about complying with the law and providing a healthy environment (for students)," Spalla said.
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The other practices outlined in the proposal include stating that students are allowed to determine their own gender identities; instructing staff to refer to students by their preferred gender pronouns and allowing students to use the restrooms and locker rooms that correspond to their gender identities.
Spalla said those practices, including the use of restrooms and locker rooms, are already in place. The district has separate bathrooms and locker rooms for women and men as well as gender-neutral bathrooms. Spalla said many transgender students currently use the gender-neutral bathrooms but that they are entitled to use whichever gendered bathroom or locker room corresponds to their identity.
"If any student has a need or desire for increased privacy or safety, regardless of the underlying reason, they may be provided access to a reasonable alternative changing area or locker room," the proposal said.
The board meeting is held at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. If the proposal is voted through, then it will go into effect immediately, Spalla said.
Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.