Comptroller Calls For Changes To Support Nonbinary Students

NEW YORK CITY – New York City's comptroller is calling on the mayor and the Department of Education to allow nonbinary and gender non-conforming student to choose their own gender identity in the remote learning portal.

In a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio and Department of Education Chancellor Richard Carranza, Comptroller Scott Stringer said the city's public school system should ensure that every child is treated equally with respect, regardless of their gender, gender identity or expression.

The letter is in response to reports from parents who said their students have to choose between male and female in the online portal for students who are participating in remote instruction.

Stringer has requested a number of things from the Department of Education, including information regarding:

• What the DOE is doing to accommodate students in the school system, including nonbinary students.
• How the DOE will recognize nonbinary students in its administrative functions and through the online remote learning portal.
• What steps DOE is taking to ensure students feel welcome amid a rise in online bullying.
• How the DOE is supporting schools to equip their students to know their rights and voice their concerns about issues that affect the LGBTQ+ community.
• Whether teachers and staff are properly trained on how to create a safe space for nonbinary students.
• How the DOE is ensuring that nonbinary students, their parents and guardians are included in these conversations.

"Because the form DOE uses for name and gender change requests require a binary male or female designation, students who identify as nonbinary or who otherwise cannot accurately describe themselves as male or female are unable to complete the form," Stringer wrote in the letter. "For these students, this means they cannot submit the form and update the name by which they are known to teachers and classmates – information that is so central for students' self-esteem, social and emotional wellness, and identity."