After months of turmoil, Rochester schools adopt guidelines supporting trans students

ROCHESTER - Ash Wartsbaugh had no problem Tuesday telling the Rochester Public School Board he’s a transgender boy.

The problem, as he saw it, was the district’s proposed guidelines that could potentially out trans students like himself to their parents without their permission.

“Queer youth need a space where they can be open about who they are,” said Wartsbaugh, an incoming freshman. “For students who are not out to their parents, that place is often at school with their friends and adults that they trust.”

Rochester’s school board Tuesday night approved by a 6-1 vote new guidelines concerning trans students after more than an hour of debate and a few tears. Under the guidelines, students can request to be addressed by their preferred names and pronouns. Students can use bathroom facilities and participate on sports teams that align with their gender identity.

It also stipulates staff are permitted to share information about a student’s transgender identity to their parents, but only if parents ask and if the student is under 18.

The board’s decision follows months of pushback over whether the district should notify parents if their child is transgender or gender-fluid.

The controversy involved a since-laid off school counselor, numerous public speakers and outsized attention from conservative news outlets criticizing the district’s choices.

Rochester Superintendent Kent Pekel drafted guidelines on trans issues last fall in response to school administrators who sought feedback from district officials. The guidelines were largely in line with recommendations from the Minnesota School Boards Association in advance of federal Title IX policy on the same issues.

There was one key difference, however. The state association appeared to recommend school staff not tell parents if their child says they identify as a different gender than what appears on their birth certificate. Pekel disagreed.

“From the outset, we said we would provide the information,” he said.

But the district didn’t finalize those guidelines then — federal officials had yet to make their new rules known, which didn’t happen until April.

School counselor Christina Barton urged the board during a public meeting in March, before the federal Title IX update, to mandate such reporting of gender identity to parents. She said she had learned about the guidelines during a February staff meeting but felt the district was hiding them to avoid community feedback.

“How would a parent know how to request such information if they aren’t aware their child is struggling with gender dysphoria?” Barton said.

She also argued students aren’t mentally developed enough to tackle gender-identity issues, saying parents should be more involved in such conversations.

District officials sent a non-disciplinary letter to Barton in April accusing her of explicitly misinforming the public during an interview with a conservative outlet about Rochester’s guidelines, which they said had been shared with administrators and staff across schools.

The Rochester Education Association, a local union representing various district officials, expelled Barton in May for ethics violations. In a letter to Barton, union officials said she had mischaracterized the district’s position, spoke ill of other union members and spread misinformation about transgender youth.

The school board in June declined to renew her contract, laying her off. Barton has since filed to run for an open school board seat this fall.

Speakers have flooded school board meetings for the past few months urging the board to either mandate or refuse reporting students’ trans identities to parents. Tuesday night’s meeting was no different, though the majority of the eight residents who signed up to speak at the board’s public comment session urged the district to pass the guidelines as is.

That included Ash, who has identified as trans since sixth grade. He’s given presentations on trans issues to fellow students and staff at Kellogg Middle School, said his mother, middle school teacher Emily Wartsbaugh.

Ash didn’t know about the district’s discussion until two weeks ago, and he asked his mom if he could speak at the board meeting. Emily said she was terrified for him in the days leading up to the meeting — she said she didn’t go to bed Monday night until 3 a.m. — but said she supported her son speaking up for other students.

“He said, ‘I’ve got a good family, but my friends, they’re not all supported,’” Emily said.

Not everyone agreed with Ash. Jesse O’Driscoll, who said he is a lifelong Rochester resident, told the board its decision could drive more families away from Rochester who don’t agree with the district’s trans guidelines. He said the district is suffering from “trust issues” after last year’s failed technology referendum and warned the district is risking its future budget.

“This pressure is going to be too great,” he said.

Board Member Jess Garcia disagreed, saying she gets many calls and emails from out-of-state parents looking to move into the district because of Minnesota’s welcoming policies toward LGBTQ residents.

“I also want to just remind a lot of our community members that your emotions are not fact,” Garcia said. “Just because you are afraid of this thing doesn’t mean that it’s bad for children. And just because you’re uncomfortable does not mean you or your children are unsafe.”

The lone dissenting voice on the board, Don Barlow, unsuccessfully tried to amend guidelines to mandate reporting of gender identity to parents, as well as mandate parental permission for staff to call students by their preferred pronouns or a different name.

Barlow said he was concerned the district’s guidelines cut parents out of important discussions.

“I don’t think we should demean the important role of what it is to be a parent or suggest that parents do not have the capacity or the wherewithal, the love and/or the willingness to support their children across the board,” Barlow said.

One person felt that love in the room. After speaking to the board, Ash Wartsbaugh sat back down in the audience next to a friend. His mother, Emily, squeezed his hand, whispering to him how proud she was.

“I’m just so grateful they’re so supportive,” Ash said after the meeting.