Katy ISD Board President Victor Perez
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights this week launched an investigation into Katy Independent School District’s gender identity policy requiring that faculty and staff notify parents if their child requests to use a different name or pronouns at school, according to reports by the Texas Tribune.
The policy also bans teaching about “gender fluidity” and bans transgender students from participating in gender-segregated sports based on their gender identity rather than gender assigned at birth.
The investigation is to determine if the policy constitutes gender harassment under Title IX. The Katy ISD Board of Trustees adopted the policy last August, on a 5-4 vote, following about four hours of public comment.
The Department of Education launched the investigation after student-led advocacy group Students Engaged in Advancing Texas filed a complaint with the federal agency in November.
Katy ISD Board President Victor Perez, who supports the policy targeting trans students, told the Tribune that the policy is being “mischaracterized” by those who oppose it. He insists the policy simply lifts the burden of withholding such information from parents off faculty and staff.
Carroll ISD in Tarrant County reportedly has, as of February, eight open investigations after eliminating protections based on race, religion, gender and sexual orientation, the Tribune notes. Keller ISD, also in Tarrant County, last June approved a policy preventing students from using preferred names and pronouns and from using gender-segregated restrooms based on their gender identity rather than their gender assigned at birth.
— Tammye Nash
