Public commenter urges Franklin County Schools to reinstate transgender student on homecoming ballot

A member of the public told the Franklin County Board of Education that a transgender foreign-exchange student was removed from the Western Hills homecoming royalty ballot after receiving the most votes, and asked the board to restore the student's name to the ballot.

The commenter said the student was removed because a parent complained about the student's gender identity and that the parent was not a member of the school-based decision-making council, arguing the parent therefore lacked authority to change the rules. The speaker said Kentucky law does not prohibit a transgender student from running for homecoming court and that no school rules were broken or student objections recorded.

The speaker framed the removal as discrimination, asking the board to "fix this decision and stick to our mission by making sure every student feels safe and valued no matter who they are." The commenter asked specifically that the student's name be returned to the ballot so she could run like any other student.

Board members did not take action during the meeting. A board member responded to the public comment by thanking the speaker for civic engagement, offering to meet with those who raised the concern, and noting that board members do not generally respond to or act publicly on matters raised during public comment. Earlier in the meeting a district representative read the board's public comment rules aloud, including a statement that comments on personnel matters are not permitted and that Kentucky law assigns personnel matters to the superintendent; the district's policy 10.2 was cited as the mechanism for requesting future board consideration of an issue.

The matter remained at the stage of public comment at the end of the meeting; no motion or formal direction to staff was recorded on the transcript.