Policy Outing LGBTQ Students To Parents Revised At Morris Co. School District

HANOVER, NJ — A Morris County school district has decided to rewrite a contentious new policy that would have required school staff to disclose students' sexual and gender identities to parents after individuals claimed it would violate a child's right to privacy.

The Hanover Township School District held a special meeting on Tuesday, June 6, in which they announced that they had revised and replaced a new “parental notice” policy.

The initial "Parental Notice of Material Circumstances" policy required teachers to report any facts or circumstances that may have a material impact on a student's well-being due to a variety of factors to parents and school administrators.

Among those factors originally included sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.

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The implementation of that policy alerted the state Attorney General, who filed a lawsuit against the K-8 district, saying that the policy violated the state’s law against discrimination by requiring teachers to essentially “out” LGBTQ+ kids.

At a court hearing on May 30, the two parties appeared before State Superior Court Judge Stuart Minkowitz, who, according to NJ Advance Media, asked the parties to come to an agreement on policy revisions while he deliberated.

Since that hearing, the school district has made revisions to the policy, removing all mentions of gender identity and sexual orientation.

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The new policy, which went into effect on June 6, requires administrators to take the necessary steps to notify parents whenever a student discloses an issue or exhibits behaviors that may have an adverse impact on the student's physical or mental health, safety, or well-being.

"Such notification cannot be based solely on a student’s actual and/or perceived protected characteristics under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination," the revised policy reads.

During the special board meeting, parents thanked the board for revising the policy, but also criticized the older version for mentioning gender identity and sexual orientation as potential areas of concern for parents.

"Your policy's only purpose is for LGBTQ students to be singled out. It does not offer assistance such as counseling but instead takes an already vulnerable population, outs them and then sends them home to their potentially unsupportive families," said one Hanover resident.

Karen Mascolo, a Whippany resident and parent, told the board that she supported parental involvement and transparency because it was one of the reasons she moved to the district, but she was opposed to the original policy.

"The policy was vague and subjective, requiring teachers to risk making the wrong decision, betraying their trust, and putting our children at unnecessary risk. I want our children to feel safe to be themselves,"

A few speakers at the special meeting took the time to defend the original policy as written.

"Schools are not safe spaces for kids to hide their secrets. Teachers should never be colluding with students to undermine parents," one Whippany resident said.

Kim Landers, a Whippany resident and parent agreed with that point, stating that it was never okay for an adult to tell a child to keep secrets from their parents.

"That's a red flag, something is wrong. I don't understand the issue with telling a parent something that's going on with their child. If something is going on with my kid, I want to know about it," Landers said.

Following public comment, the board passed the revised policy effective immediately, with only one board member abstaining from the vote.