FCPS committee refines gender-identity policy ahead of board first reading

The policy committee for Frederick County Public Schools said it will present changes to Policy 443 at the full board's first reading this Wednesday that encourage staff to use students' preferred pronouns while clarifying that the district will not compel speech.

A board member who summarized the revisions said the district will "encourage our staff to use pronouns at every opportunity" and add language telling staff that "a repetitive misgendering [of a] student could be construed to be harassment and bullying." The committee also tied the change to existing student-protection policies.

Why it matters: the committee said the revision is intended to protect students from harassment while respecting staff religious-liberty claims. Members discussed two court decisions they said affect the district's approach: Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board (the Fourth Circuit decision applied to a restroom-access dispute) and B.P.J. v. West Virginia State Board of Education (a sports-participation case now pending before the U.S. Supreme Court).

Committee members described the changes as narrowly focused edits rather than a wholesale rewrite. "Not so much that that case actually doesn't apply in Maryland because it was actually a state case," a board member said, noting some decisions cited at prior meetings involved different jurisdictions and legal contexts.

The committee also discussed student privacy and counseling confidentiality. Officials said current practice does not require school staff to notify parents when a student discloses a transgender identity; the policy will continue to specify that students can choose "the time, place and manner in which they want to share." In the meeting a board member said the policy trains staff to "encourage students" to involve parents when appropriate.

What the committee did not do: no formal vote on Policy 443 occurred at this meeting; the item is scheduled for first reading before the full board. Committee members said they will monitor pending rulings, in particular the Supreme Court action in the B.P.J. case, and revise the policy again if higher-court decisions change legal obligations for Maryland districts.

Supporting details: members noted the district's plan to link training and the district's anti-bullying rules to the pronoun guidance so that repetitive misgendering can trigger harassment investigations rather than being treated only as an interpersonal dispute.

Looking ahead: the committee said Policy 443 will appear on the board agenda for first reading Wednesday; if the Supreme Court issues new guidance on the sports or privacy cases, the committee expects to revisit the policy.