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Parents urge board to stop using language they say hurts transgender students
Summary
Three public commenters urged the Prior Lake-Savage board to support LGBTQ+ students and called attention to perceived hurtful language by a board director; speakers cited research on higher dropout risks for LGBTQ+ students and an ongoing field investigation affecting youth.
Three members of the public used the board's 15-minute public-comment period to raise student welfare and safety concerns.
Becca Moser, a parent and 21-year Savage resident, said she appealed privately to Director Atkinson after seeing social-media posts in which Atkinson described media coverage and asked whether she had "promoted anti trans talking points." Moser told the board she found Atkinson’s use of terms such as "biological male" and "biological female" hurtful to transgender and gender-nonconforming students and said attempts to raise the issue were met with "mockery" online. "Stop using language that hurts our students and families," Moser said. "I'm not here to harass. I am here as a human asking you to stop hurting people." She asked the board to commit to decency and to support LGBTQ+ students.
Mary Anne Vandevasi, who identified herself as a Savage resident and grandparent of LGBTQ+ relatives, gave the board research she said showed higher dropout rates among U.S. LGBTQ+ students (she cited a midpoint figure of 11.6% and compared it with a 5.7% national figure) and described projected economic consequences. She told board members the research should inform policy considerations.
Jason Anderson closed public comment with a safety concern, reporting an "open investigation by the Prior Lake Police Department and Minnesota attorney's general's office" into an alleged sexual-assault incident on Aug. 5 at Thomas Ryan Memorial Field involving activities run by Prior Lake Athletics for Youth on district fields; he urged community and organizational enforcement of anti-bullying and safety policies.
No formal board action was taken during the public-comment period. Board members did not indicate, on the record at the meeting, an immediate policy change in response to the comments; the matters raised may be addressed in future sessions or through staff follow-up.
