School board votes 3-2 to advertise revised discrimination policies after hours of public comment

School board members in Sarasota County voted 3-2 on July 22 to advertise revisions to Chapter 2 (policies 2.71, 2.71a and 2.73) and the 2025–26 student code of conduct for the required 28‑day public comment period.

The vote follows a long public-comment period in which more than 60 people — students, parents, teachers and local advocates — urged the board to keep explicit, enumerated protections for groups such as LGBTQ+ students, students with disabilities and students of color. Supporters cited peer‑reviewed research and the GLSEN National School Climate Survey when arguing that named protections make students safer; opponents and some board members framed the changes as a legal risk-management step to preserve federal funding.

Why it matters: The advertised revisions remove enumerated lists of protected categories in favor of broader language protecting “all students,” a…