Middletown BOE Removes Transgender Student Policy Suggested By State

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — On Thursday night, the Middletown school board took the near-unanimous vote to abolish Policy 5756, which is guidance from the NJ Department of Education that gives protection to transgender students.

The vote to strike 5756 also removed all edits the school board made to the policy — and which got the district sued by the state — including requiring teachers tell parents if a student was using a different name, pronoun or bathroom.

The only Board member to vote against removing Policy 5756 was Deb Wright. Board member Joan Minnuies was absent from the meeting.

It was a short, 8-minute meeting with no drama. When other New Jersey school districts struck 5756 from their books, they were met with immense backlash. Yet no members of the public spoke Thursday night in Middletown.

Earlier this week, LGBTQ+ advocacy group Garden State Equality said they planned to have protesters there, but changed their minds at the last minute. They did say, in part:

"Let us be clear: The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination remains in full effect and applies to the Middletown Township School District, with or without a policy ... Rather than rallying tonight, let's give the Middletown Board of Education the space to respect the law, protect all students, and refocus on their responsibilities to the district after their loss in court."

And despite the no-drama meeting, Middletown has seen plenty of fireworks over this issue.

One sticking point of 5756 states: "There is no affirmative duty for any school district to notify a student’s parent or guardian of the student’s gender identity or expression."

That's why the Middletown school board made edits, requiring parents be kept informed.

And hence, Attorney General Matt Platkin sued, saying Middletown was putting transgender and LGBTQ+ teens at risk. Two different courts now — Monmouth County Superior Court and the NJ Court of Appeals — both ruled Middletown's edited policy may be illegal, and blocked Middletown from enforcing it.

Board president Frank Capone thanked his board members for voting to remove the policy.

"I want to say thank you to the board for rescinding this policy," he said after the vote was taken. "For the past 18 months we have dealt with an Attorney General who misused his authority to convert a temporary injunction into a permanent one ... The appellate court found the Attorney General overstepped its bounds by preventing us from rescinding Policy 5756 ... This vote to rescind Policy 5756 will guarantee no child faces individual discrimination, and every parent in this district will remain actively involved in their child's education, with complete transparency."

As of Friday, the Attorney General has not dropped his lawsuit against Middletown.

Watch the brief, 8-minute meeting:

Earlier this week: Middletown's Transgender Policy Could Harm Kids, May Be Illegal, 2nd Court Says

Middletown Democrats Slam Vote By BOE To Remove Policy 5756

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