New protections for JCPS transgender students

Applause went up in the room Monday evening when the Jefferson County Board of Education approved expanding the policies of Kentucky's largest school district to specifically protect students and employees regardless of gender expression and gender identity.

The 6-1 vote, with board member Linda Duncan dissenting, will change Jefferson County Public Schools' nondiscrimination and anti-harassment policies to specifically protect transgender students and others whose gender identity or expression may open them to harassment or discrimination.

JCPS already specifically names several other individual characteristics in these policies, including age, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, veteran status and disability.

Several people showed up to the board headquarters to hear the vote, although no one chose to speak to the board during the meeting on the topic.

Board vice-chairwoman Diane Porter said she received numerous emails and calls urging support of the policy changes. Porter said she has experienced discrimination and wouldn't wish that on anyone in the district.

"I will not ever support discrimination," she said to applause.

Board member Duncan responded, stressing that she was not voting for discrimination against transgender people. She said she was voting against the policy out of concerns regarding some of the policies' wording, as well as on how the policy changes were created and how the policies could be enforced.

She said that while some stakeholders were involved in developing the policy, other key stakeholders were not involved, including assistant principals.

"We excluded a lot of people who have a big stake in policy and decision-making," Duncan said.

Haddaway echoed some of her concerns about the development and wording of the policies, saying he was disheartened to be told by some people that he was "for discrimination" when he voted earlier this month against moving forward with a second reading of the policy. He said he decided to vote for the policy Monday because of the "spirit of what I think this policy is accomplishing."

Board member Lisa Willner applauded the vote but said the question now is on what sort of support and professional development will be provided to schools. She said people need to realize that the passing of these changes doesn't necessarily mean that all harassment and discrimination of transgender students and teachers will stop.

"Now that we've passed this policy, we have a responsibility to make sure training is available," Willner said.

The JCPS Twitter account tweeted out a picture of a rainbow after the vote, saying that "our schools and minds are open. #LGBTQ"

The board on Wednesday also approved keeping the property tax rates that support JCPS schools the same for the 2015-2016 school year, following Superintendent Donna Hargens' recommendation.

The unanimous vote means the real property and personal property tax rates will remain at 71 cents per $100 of assessed value. This is the third year that the tax rate has been at that level, since the board last year also voted to keep the tax rate the same.

Rising property tax revenue due in part to higher property valuations in some part of the county enabled JCPS to keep from raising the tax rate, Hargens has said. JCPS had been banking on an increase in tax revenue to balance its budget this school year.

Keeping the tax rate the same is expected to bring in $428,666,473 through those property taxes this year, an increase of more than $16.3 million from last year's tax revenue of $412,358,194.43.

The board also approved a plan to move some of its future board meetings to sites outside district headquarters. The Oct. 12 board meeting will be held at Westport Middle, while the Dec. 14 meeting will be at Ramsey Middle.

Reporter Allison Ross can be reached at (502) 582-4241. Follow her on Twitter at @allisonSross. Follow the Courier-Journal’s education team on Facebook at Facebook.com/SchooledCJ.