LONG BEACH >> The Long Beach Unified school board voted unanimously Tuesday to enact policies to protect transgender youth from discrimination.

The five-member governing board revised two of its existing nondiscrimination policies — Nondiscrimination and Harassment of Students as well as Nondiscrimination in District Programs and Activities — to include transgender youth.

Board members made the move in light of Assembly Bill 1266, a state law activated in January that mandates public schools to allow transgender youth to participate in activities, such as sports teams, and use facilities, such as bathrooms and locker rooms, in line with their gender identity.

The board’s revised policies now prohibit discrimination, harassment, intimidation or bullying of students based on their “gender identity or expression” as well as retaliation against students who report discrimination.

Students who faced discrimination because of their race, religion, national origin and related factors were already covered under the original policy. Both students and school employees who engage in any form of unlawful discrimination will be subject to disciplinary action.

The board revised its Nondiscrimination in District Programs and Activities policy so that it now protects students from bias due to their “gender identity or expression” as well.

Each year the district will review its programs and activities to remove barriers that would result in unlawful discrimination against such students and others.

The district will also notify students, parents, employees and other stakeholders about its nondiscrimination policy and direct complaints related to bullying, intimidation and harassment to a coordinator for non-discrimination.

In January, the school district announced that it had won the 2014 President’s Award from the LGBTQ Center of Long Beach for supporting its mission. The Center works to counter discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity and raises awareness about such issues. In partnership with the Center, Long Beach Unified has trained more than 500 high school instructors on teaching empathy and using appropriate language related to issues of sexual orientation and gender identity at school.

During Tuesday’s meeting, the board also voted to approve its new contract agreement with the California School Employees Association. The CSEA includes non-certificated personnel such as clerical staff, custodians, computer technicians, groundskeepers and cafeteria workers. The new contract will result in CSEA members receiving a 3 percent raise retroactive to July.