This will be updated.
The board of a Union-based school district voted Thursday night to eliminate a set of local rules that is meant to support transgender and gender expansive students, despite many community members speaking out against the change during an hours-long hearing.
The vote total from Regional School Unit 40 School board was a tie, at 8-8, but the deletion of the policy passed because some members carry more weight because of the size of the towns they represent. RSU 40 initially voted 8-7 to delete the policy at its May 16 meeting and had to hold a final vote on Thursday.
The policy has required several things of staff in RSU 40, including keeping the identity of transgender students private if that’s their choice, allowing the students to use the restrooms that most closely match their gender identities, and using their chosen names and pronouns.
Supporters of the policy say that it helps marginalized students to feel more welcomed and gives staff more guidance about how to support them, while the board members opposed to the policy have argued that it undermines families and isn’t necessary given state protections for transgender people.
The district includes the towns of Union, Friendship, Waldoboro, Warren and Washington.
More than 100 people spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting. About 75 speakers opposed eliminating the policy, including principals, teachers, parents and transgender students, while more than 20 supported the board’s decision.
The policy was brought up for formal review by board member Joshua Blackman from Warren, according to another board member, Noah Botley from Washington. Botley said the policy went through the policy committee and was then recommended for deletion.
Jules Walkup is a Report for America corps member. Additional support for this reporting is provided by BDN readers.
