× Thanks for reading! Log in to continue. Enjoy more articles by logging in or creating a free account. No credit card required. Log in Sign up {{featured_button_text}}

Lincoln Public Schools Superintendent Steve Joel pushed back Thursday against what he said was misinformed reaction to the district’s gender identity training by national commentators and news outlets.

“It’s indeed regrettable that for the last week and a half we’ve had to dedicate as much staff time and resources to address an issue that is not founded in fact,” he said at a news conference.

“Never once has anyone inside our system mandated that a teacher take (the words) ‘boys’ and ‘girls’ or ‘ladies’ and ‘gentlemen’ out of their interactions with children or interaction with adults. There’s no policy, there’s no procedure, there’s no changes being made to bathrooms in schools.”

Fox News and other national outlets picked up on local news reports about the district’s gender identity training, specifically handouts used with teachers at Irving Middle School that included one from the nonprofit organization Gender Spectrum entitled “12 easy steps to gender inclusiveness.”

Among the advice in the handout was to avoid gendered terms like "girls" and "boys" and opt for gender neutral terms such as “campers” or come up with group names like “purple penguins,” a term on which national media outlets have focused.