WASHINGTON — A shocking 199 public schools in Vermont have policies on the books that allow staff to not disclose children’s transgender status to their parents, according to a study by a parental rights group.
Defending Education, a grassroots organization that scrutinizes schools, found that close to 52,488 students across 37 school districts in Vermont with policies indicating that a child’s transgender status could be concealed from parents.
“Except as set forth herein, school personnel should not disclose information that may reveal a student’s transgender or gender nonconforming status,” Vermont’s Agency of Education’s “best practices” missive cited by Defending Education says.
“Disclosing confidential student information to other employees, students, parents, or other third parties may violate privacy laws, including but not limited to FERPA [Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act].”
That “best practices” pamphlet, which was dated 2016, acknowledged that some students with gender dysphoria “may not have [a] supportive home environment” and encouraged schools to “develop a plan for information sharing which supports the student, while balancing a parent’s right to information.”
Vermont’s Agency of Education also noted that students can keep their correspondence with the school in their legal name and assigned sex to avoid disclosures in documents to which parents legally have access, to avoid tipping them off to their child’s attempts at so-called gender transition.
“The student may request that all correspondence between the school and the home use only the student’s legal name and assigned sex,” the missive noted.
“School personnel should discuss with the student first before discussing the student’s gender identity with the student’s parent or guardian and how written communication with the parent or guardian will refer to the student.”
The Post contacted Vermont’s Agency of Education for comment.
Vermont has over 300 public schools and over 83,000 students.
Defending Education combed through those policies and concluded that nearly two-thirds of public schools in the state have policies that seemingly allow for schools to hide a child’s “gender identity” from parents.
Most of them also allow students to use facilities or partake in sports that are in “accordance with their gender identity,” according to Defending Education’s study.
The Post has not independently verified Defending Education’s findings about 199 public schools in Vermont having policies “to allow for school staff and teachers to keep a student’s so-called gender transition attempts hidden from parents.”
Some of the policies are murky.
“[A] transgender or gender nonconforming student will be able to discuss and express their gender identity and gender expression openly and to decide when, with whom, and how much of their private information to share with others,” the Windsor Southeast Supervisory Union wrote in its policy, for example.
Defending Education knocked Vermont’s public education sector for the lack of clarity in giving parents the right to know whether their child is identifying as transgender or gender nonconforming.
“Parents have a right to know any and all information that pertains to their children’s safety and health while at school,” Defending Education’s Casey Ryan, who led the investigation, said in a statement.
“Refusing to be honest with parents regarding their child’s health is a direct violation of FERPA. Any school district in Vermont that continues to hide the preferred gender identity of students from their parents is in direct violation of federal law.”
An analysis by the Williams Institute, which cited surveys conducted in 2021 and 2023, found that over 3.3% — or 724,000 — of American youth between the ages of 13 and 17 identify as transgender.
Notably, that’s a higher rate of individuals identifying as transgender than any other older age range cited in the data.
Marie Tiemann, the president of SpeakVT, which focuses on similar issues as Defending Education, railed against the school policies that allow biological boys into female facilities.
“No female student should have to be forced to dress and undress in front of male students as a prerequisite to play in school-sponsored sports,” Tiemann argued. “No female athlete should have to compete with male athletes as a prerequisite to participating in school-sponsored female-only sports.”
