SALT LAKE CITY — Leaders in the Utah Legislature voted Tuesday to study the local impacts of a recent directive from the White House telling schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms consistent with their gender identity.

The study is intended to find out how Utah schools will respond to the directive and whether legislative action is necessary. Lawmakers said they hope it will help the state find a "middle ground" in resisting federal education mandates and protecting children.

"The totality in studying this is important," said Sen. Jim Dabakis, D-Salt Lake City. "As we look at this over the interim, I hope that we'll be able to do as we've done in other areas: find that common sense middle ground over protecting our kids, keeping our state sovereignty, and we're making the state of Utah a better place."

The study will take place during the coming months in the Education Interim Committee.

The declaration from President Barack Obama's administration came last week, also directing schools to integrate transgender students into locker rooms, athletic teams and other facilities in accordance with their gender identity. The letter sparked local debate among parents, state leaders and others about civil rights and federal involvement in local education programs.

While the directive is not legally binding, many of its implications are uncertain, such as whether noncomplying schools will lose federal funding linked with Title IX statutes. Currently, Utah schools overall receive about $482.4 million in federal money.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a statement on the issue Tuesday, saying it isn't directly supporting or opposing the directive and instead is encouraging "public officials to create and administer laws and regulations that properly balance issues of safety, privacy and dignity in seeking fairness for all."

The situation is "difficult and sensitive," LDS Church spokesman Eric Hawkins said, and church members are taught "to be prayerful and loving toward anyone who struggles to understand and live the doctrine of the church."

Gov. Gary Herbert on Monday said state leaders will explore the issue before any "significant action" is taken, but that it's the responsibility of the Utah State Board of Education to provide guidance for schools.

"We will review that and analyze it and decide how to respond," Herbert said. "The action kind of being dictated to us as a one-size-fits-all, I think, would actually have some significant negative implications and hurt the transgender community."

Elaborating on a statement last week from the State School Board, education leaders at the Utah State Office of Education said Monday they won't be providing a statewide directive, and that the board "does not necessarily expect a change in current practices or behavior."

"We anticipate you will continue accommodating the needs of individual students according to your local policies and procedures. As you are aware, many of these cases necessitate action on a case-by-case basis, and (schools) know best how to move forward with unique solutions," states a letter from interim State Superintendent Sydnee Dickson to leaders of school districts and charter schools. "The state board believes local schools are best equipped to meet the needs of students with sensitivity and timeliness."

Initially, state lawmakers Tuesday considered making bullying and violence against transgender students a specific component of the legislative study, in addition to the impact on schools as a whole. Dabakis said the safety of students, particularly transgender students, is "indivisible from the idea of waving our fist at the federal government" for its involvement in education policy.

"These young children need our help. And while we might have a fight with the federal government and Title IX and federal interaction, regardless of that, we have a responsibility to our children," he said.

Senate President Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, said the scope of the study was intended to be fairly open because of how early Utah is in the process of responding to the letter from the U.S. departments of justice and education.

"A lot of this is yet to be unfolded," Niederhauser said. "There's water to flow under the bridge over the next several weeks as some things are sorted out. We don't know what the answers to those are."

After some debate, legislators decided to study "the impact (the directive) will have on Utah schools and Utah transgender students" to broaden its scope. That might include bullying, student privacy, parental involvement and other issues.

"(I) would like to be less prescriptive," Niederhauser said.

Email: mjacobsen@deseretnews.com

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