Public commenters urge Berwick Area School District to reconsider proposed policies on transgender students

Dozens of residents, school staff and mental-health professionals urged the Berwick Area School District board on multiple occasions during public comment to reconsider proposed policy changes that speakers said would single out transgender, nonbinary and intersex students.

Speakers said the policies under review — identified in public remarks as Policy 2162 and Policy 7-19 — would require parental permission for a school to recognize a student's chosen name and would restrict restroom and locker-room access based on a binary understanding of sex and gender. "This policy would force children to use their dead names and inaccurate pronouns unless their parent makes a formal request," said Christina Burtzel Culver, a Salem Township resident who identified herself as a parent, alumna and co-chair of Defense of Democracy of Columbia County.

The speakers framed…