MSAD 52 board sends revised Title IX policy draft back to committee after hours of public comment

At its Nov. 1 meeting, the MSAD 52 Board of Directors moved to send a narrowed draft of new policy ACDC back to the policy subcommittee for rework after more than two hours of public comment and board debate about restroom, locker‑room and athletic participation rules tied to biological sex.

The board opened the evening to public testimony that centered on the proposed policy’s impact on transgender and gender‑diverse students. “They’re not your children. They’re not your children,” said Dean Carrington, who identified himself as a Green resident, alumnus, educator and nonbinary person, during the public comment period, urging the board to “make this district a place where every child…feels safe.”

Why it matters: The drafts before the board addressed the same core question — how the district will apply Title IX and state law to private spaces and athletics — but proposed different legal and practical approaches. One draft (ACDC version 1) referenced a presidential executive order and attempted to reconcile that direction with the Maine Human Rights Act; a second draft (ACDC version 2) was limited to athletics; and an alternative text offered by board member Anthony (labeled ACAE) sought a narrower…