Saline Area Schools board approves edits to transgender student policy after legal review; 5-2 vote

The Saline Area Schools Board of Education on April 22 approved edits to its transgender and nonbinary student policy, voting 5-2 to accept the version recommended by the policy committee and district legal counsel.

Supporters and some board members said the changes reflect current legal advice and do not remove protections for transgender students; opponents urged the board to keep a specific Title IX citation in the policy. The board recorded five votes in favor and two opposed; the two recorded no votes were cast by Tim Austin and Jennifer Stebmon.

Board member Lauren Gold, representing the policy committee, told the board the committee did not intend to remove protections. “It is not the intention of the policy committee to deny protections to our transgender students or any student,” Gold said, and added the committee was trying “to stay true to legal advice and what the current Title IX interpretation is.”

During the public-comment period, parent Susan Estep urged the board to keep Title IX language in place and said the district’s broader nondiscrimination policies already reference gender identity. “I don’t think it’s fair that we have brought this specific policy up when all of our policies are clear that we do not discriminate against our transgender and nonbinary students,” Estep said.

Trustees who opposed the change cited concerns about removing an explicit Title IX reference. Tim Austin said federal protections can be interpreted differently over time and cautioned that removing the reference might lessen protections depending on future interpretations. Jennifer Stebmon also said she had reviewed the materials and emails and remained concerned about changing policy language without broader consistency among related policies.

The policy committee and district legal counsel recommended removing a specific reference to 2024 federal guidance and the Title IX citation from this sub-policy while adding a citation to the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, a Michigan statute cited in the revised draft. Board members who supported the change said the move reflected the legal advice they had received from the district’s attorney, who had advised the committee to remove the Title IX citation from that particular sub-policy.

Board discussion noted that broader nondiscrimination policies in the district continue to state nondiscrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation and gender identity. “An individual’s rights aren’t determined by whether or not we reference a policy or a law,” Gold told colleagues, adding that the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act reference was added to the policy’s bottom text.

The policy committee recommended the revisions and brought the draft to the full board for consideration. After discussion the board voted to adopt the revised text; the recorded result was 5 in favor, 2 opposed. Board members said the district will continue to consult legal counsel and can revisit policy language if further guidance or court decisions change the legal landscape.

What changed and why it matters: The version adopted strikes a specific reference to federal Title IX guidance cited by some earlier drafts and adds a reference to Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. Supporters said the edits align the written policy with recent legal advice; opponents warned that removing an explicit Title IX citation could reduce the apparent strength of federal protections depending on future federal interpretations.

The board did not remove existing district nondiscrimination protections, members emphasized; rather, they adjusted how those protections are cited in the single sub-policy. The district’s general nondiscrimination policy remains in place and still includes gender identity in its nondiscrimination language.

The vote closes the matter for now; several board members said they expect continued legal monitoring and will revisit policy language if new legal guidance or statutory changes require it.