Parents Question State Transgender Policy At Central Regional

BERKELEY, NJ — Central Regional School District parents are raising concerns regarding a controversial state education policy that offers guidance on transgender students to districts.

Policy 5756 has made headlines and raised questions statewide in recent months, as districts including Middletown, Hanover and Marlboro are being sued by the state for trying to implement policies that require schools to inform parents if a child identifies as transgender, going against the policy.

The issue is parental rights, a mother told the Board of Education at its latest meeting.

Some districts have been repealing 5756 lately, as is the case in Colts Neck. The state itself recently referred to the policy as "not mandatory."

The board was asked to do the same thing at Central, because of the "extreme, extreme problem of taking away parental input," the mother said.

"We should be doing academic issues," she said. "We shouldn't be focusing on sexual issues."

Another father took issue with teachers asking students for their pronouns.

"They're pushing their own ideology," he said.

He mentioned how they had the option to opt-out of sexual education classes, but these were brought up outside of health classes.

"Why can't you give the parents reassurance?" he asked.

President of the Central Regional Education Association Ron Donnerstag said that no teachers are pushing their personal agendas.

"If they asked for pronouns, that's something that is listed in the state law that says they should be doing that and respect it," Donnerstag said.

The school board did not address policy 5756 and what, if anything, they would be doing with it. They acknowledged that they cannot answer everything right away, but promised that they are always listening.