Highland Park BoE to Approve Transgender Student Policy

Highland Park, NJ -Update, May 2: The vote on the transgender policy has been postponed until the May 23 Highland Park Board of Education meeting.

This coming Monday, the Highland Park Board of Education will likely approve what some are calling one of the most progressive policies in the state of New Jersey on dealing with transgender students.

There are transgender students in Highland Park public schools and issues have arisen, school board president Darcie Cimarusti told Patch, such as which bathroom they should use.

As of now, Highland Park schools have no formal rules outlining which bathroom transgender students are allowed to use, she said.

Highland Park's new guidelines would give students access to any school facility or organization based on their affirmed gender, said Dr. Stephanie Sasso, a psychologist who helped write the policy. That means transgender students would be free to use any bathroom or locker room they choose, and try out for any sports team of their choosing.

The policy would also affirm the particular pronoun for students and protect transgender students' privacy.

"This is the most progressive policy that I've ever seen," said Sasso, who specializes in treating gender diverse individuals, and practices out of Highland Park.

She said most public schools in the U.S. do have policies for transgender students, but they are flawed.

"The student often has to go to the superintendent, explain their gender, and then the superintendent has to decide if they really are the gender they say they are," she said. "I don't think a school should be determining someone's gender or identity. Schools should focus on education, not gender."

In New Jersey, there is currently no statewide policy on how transgender students should be treated, said David Saenz, a spokesman for the state DOE. But Education Commissioner David Hespe recently said he thinks all school boards in the state need to address the issue of gender identity.

The policy was created by Sasso, Highland Park schools superintendent Scott Taylor, school board member Michelle McFadden-DiNicola, and a parent of a transgender child in the district.

It was first introduced at the April 18 Board of Education meeting. You can watch it being discussed at the 1 hour, 41-minute mark of the video, above.

So far, Cimarusti said she's gotten nothing but positive feedback from the community. The transgender policy will be introduced for a second reading at the Board of Ed. meeting on Monday, May 2. The public is invited to come and speak on it. The board will vote on it then, and will likely approve it.

"Even in a district as progressive as Highland Park, it still takes time to get the district to come around to deal with these issues," Cimarusti said. "We are very happy we can do the right thing for our students, and make them feel comfortable and secure in school. We want more school districts to think about these issues."