Pascack Valley School Board To Vote On Transgender Policy Monday Night

The Pascack Valley Regional High School District Board of Education will vote Monday night on a policy that officials say will help protect transgender students, but has raised concerns by parents and a Christian legal aid group.

It is the second time the policy is up for a final vote. The board had been scheduled to vote on it in February, but it was tabled after parents and residents expressed concern.

The policy would allow students to use locker rooms and restrooms based on their gender identity. It would require the district to accept a student’s “assertion of his or her gender identity” that is consistently expressed.

Students could also participate in sports and gym classes based on their gender identity.

The Board of Education voted 7 to 1 last week, with one abstention, to re-introduce the policy last week.

Opposition to the policy has come from the local and national level. The Liberty Counsel, a non-profit litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family, sent a letter to the school board threatening legal action if the policy is adopted.

Hannah Simpson, a transgender 2003 alumna of the high school, has advocated for the policy’s approval.

“It most importantly sets the standard that acceptance should be an expectation, not the exception,” Simpson said. “It sends a strong message that there is sensible, rational thought and in keeping of our understanding of humanity, which is to be unconditionally loved and respected for who you are and who you want to be.”

Simpson will hold a forum on transgender identity at the Hillsdale Volunteer Ambulance Service at 340 Washington Ave. from 5 to 7 p.m. Smith will be discussion what it means to be a transgender woman.