Voluntary guidance on the treatment of gay and transgender K-12 students needs more work and won't go to the Michigan State Board of Education for approval in August as originally expected, the Michigan Department of Education announced today.

"Getting it right is more important than when we do it," said John Austin, president of the state board. "There's still work to do. These are not easy questions."

The guidance, unveiled in February, aims to help schools create a more safe and supportive environment for LGBTQ students, but drew immense backlash for recommending that transgender students be granted access to restrooms that match their gender identity, among other things.

The guidance has been "significantly clarified," Austin said, though he declined to address specifics before the board meets to discuss the issue publicly. The guidance could come before the board for approval in September, but it may take longer, he said.

Residents, both in support and opposition, submitted more than 13,000 comments online about the guidance, and many people also attended state board meetings to weigh in on the guidance.

Though Austin declined to discuss specifics, he said the guidance has been clarified on the issue of parental involvement. Originally, the guidance stated that transgender students have the "right to decide when, with whom, and to what extent to share private information."

The guidance also said that when contacting the student's parent, the "school staff should use the student's legal name and the pronoun corresponding to the student's assigned sex at birth, unless the student or parent/guardian has specified otherwise."

Many residents in opposition to the guidance viewed that as an erosion of parental rights.

"The guidance has been significantly clarified and revised around the issue of how parents can and should be involved in decision making," Austin said. "We want parents to be involved with working with schools on how students can be accepted and thrive."

Although, he added, "There's rare occasions when a kid shows up in school and it's not safe to be identified as transgender at home because the parents are the problem ... but that's a rare problem."

The rights of transgender students has been an issue debated not just in Michigan, but around the nation as well.

In May, the Obama administration announced that Title IX, the civil rights law that protects students from sex discrimination in colleges and universities that receive federal funding, extends to transgender students.

Guidance on the proper treatment of transgender students, including that they be granted access to restrooms that match their gender identity, was sent to school districts around the nation. The recommendation did not carry the force of law, but schools that don't comply could risk losing federal aid.

Earlier this month, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette joined nine other states in a lawsuit challenging federal guidance, calling it "federal overreach" and saying he wants to "protect the dignity and privacy of all Michigan students."