A new policy in the Kettle Moraine School District will require parental permission for name changes

The Kettle Moraine School Board voted to approve the final draft of a policy that would, in part, require parental permission to use a name other than the one they were given at birth.

Board members approved the policy, 6-1, on March 12. Kettle Moraine School Board President Carl Millard, Liz Nottling, Jay Crouse, Kathy Kapsy, Kelly A. Brown and Jim Romanowski voted in favor while Amy Richards was the only board member who voted against it.

Richards told a reporter she disagreed with a portion of the policy that allowed parents to make pronoun change requests that would result in a student being referred to by a "pronoun established in our English language (for) a different sex than they are in reality."

Richards also said the district is "in a challenging spot" dealing with an unsettled world on the topic. She referred to the recent National Health Service of England's decision to stop prescribing puberty blockers to children.

"I'm very concerned about what we don't know yet. We just watched the National Health Service say no puberty blockers for kids. There are plenty of people coming out to say 'I wasn't protected,' and now there's no going back. I don't want to be a part of something that's so unsettled, and that's why I voted no. I voted my conscience," Richards said.

Romanowski, who had previously voted against an earlier draft of the policy, told a reporter he decided to vote for the final version of the policy because it included a flow chart that helps guide district officials when faced with pronoun change requests.

"I'm hoping that it's a good situation for our families that they feel supported, that they can request a pronoun change," Romanowski said.

District superintendent Stephen Plum noted during the meeting that the pronoun change request portion of the flow chart is consistent with an October 2023 ruling by Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Maxwell. Maxwell wrote that staff needed parental permission to use names and pronouns of students different than the ones they were given at birth.

Maxwell's decision was the result of a 2021 lawsuit brought by parents of a then-KM student. The parents said that, despite their objections, district employees referred to their child by the child's chosen name and pronouns.

Here's what to know about the policy.

What does the policy say?

The policy calls for parent approval of student name changes, and establishes procedures for processing name changes due to court order, legal name changes and student records. It also says a legal name change is required to make changes to legal documents such as transcripts, Advanced Placement and ACT/SAT registrations. It also said parents will determine what names staff will call their minor child while at school and that staff need written parental permission to call minor students by a name different than the one corresponding with their biological sex at school.

The flow chart that was approved as part of the policy requires a parent to sign off on name change requests. It also adds a procedure for a pronoun change, requiring written permission between a parent and an administrator. The flow chart also includes a statement that says the administration documents and notifies staff of approved or unapproved requests, and that staff are not compelled to abide by pronoun requests.

What did those who spoke during public comment say about the policy?

All five people who spoke during the public comment session of the March 12 meeting said they had concerns about the policy.

One of the speakers, parent Christy DeMaster,has a transgender child. She said the discussion on the proposed policy had been about board members' personal views, teachers' rights and the concerns of other parents who don't have transgender children. But, she said, there had not been any discussion on the views, concerns and issues of students and families affected by the policy. She asked the board to consider an example of a student who looks and dresses masculine and where the parent requests the student be referred to by a masculine name and he/him pronouns.

DeMaster, who is also a member of the Kettle Moraine Alliance community group, asked the board to consider several questions, including what the district would do if a teacher referred to her child as "she," how the district would handle harassment, what would happen if the student harmed himself and whether the district would back the teacher.

"These are the kinds of things I want you to think about, and I've seen absolutely none of that going on so far," DeMaster said.

Another speaker, Heather Thiele, a parent of two nongender conforming students in the district, called for the board to honor and respect transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals.

"Allow them to be themselves. Allow them to grow. Allow them to have an environment that is supportive and accepting of who they are and where they are in their journeys. Allow them to be free of condemnation and hateful rhetoric from those around them in this building. You set the precedent. You set the marker for how they will be treated and respected. You take away their dignity. You take away their personhood when you disregard their correct pronouns and their correct names," Thiele said.

Contact Alec Johnson at (262) 875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlecJohnson12.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Kettle Moraine approves final draft of student name policy