Neighbors,
You may be aware that the Minnesota Department of Education has approved a “Toolkit” to provide guidance to school leaders, administrators, and teachers regarding “Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students.” The Toolkit contains information and teaching recommendations that include introducing confusing concepts like gender identity and fluidity to very young children in our schools. These discussions should be left up to parents.
I strongly urge schools and educators to give the Toolkit no weight. As official as the Toolkit may seem, there will be no repercussions for school boards choosing not to use it. None of the measures in the Toolkit are authorized by law, and school boards should not follow them as though they were. The Toolkit is purely the Department of Education making their own policy, and schools are not legally required to comply.
To be clear, our students are protected from harm or discrimination by applicable federal and state laws, including Chapter 121A (Students Rights, Responsibilities, and Behavior) and Chapter 363A (Human Rights), which the Minnesota Department of Education has also acknowledged in communication with school board members. In other words, the Toolkit is completely unnecessary, and is simply an attempt by the Department of Education to spread progressive social values to our children.
I think the most important thing to remember is that with any bureaucracy, you give it an inch and it will take a mile. If Minnesotans don’t stand strong against the Toolkit’s recommendations from the start, these policies could become law in the near future. Please contact your school board members and urge them to reject the Toolkit’s recommendations.
Sincerely,
Steve