Freehold Township, NJ, Board Votes To Repeal Trans Policy

🏫 NJ schools still debating trans policies for students

🏫 Freehold Township is the latest to repeal

🏫 More districts expected to follow

Freehold Township schools are the latest to rescind Gov. Phil Murphy's transgender policy for students.

Saying the district needs to get back to the business of educating students, Freehold Township Board of Education President Michelle Lambert says she wants "to remove the divisiveness" that has surrounded this issue for months.

The school board meeting was divisive, with one parent telling the board the issue was "sadly political." Another argued that amidst all the voices in this debate, the one that was missing was "the voices of students."

The vote was 6-3 to repeal state policy 5756.

That is the policy that prohibited school districts from telling parents if a student had changed gender identity in school.

Some parents appealed to the board to keep the policy in place, arguing the repeal could put the safety of students at risk.

Other parents argued they had the right to know what was going on with their kids, no matter how sensitive the issue might be.

What happens now?

Parents in the Freehold Township School District were notified by Superintendent Neal Dickstein that the policy had been repealed, but the decision does not mean the forced outing of students who are dealing with gender identity issues.

Dickstein said the district is now reviewing current policies and will continue to support and protect transgender students.

Other New Jersey districts are expected to repeal the controversial policies in the weeks and months ahead.

It will then be up to those districts to set their own policies, but they must be in compliance with state laws against discrimination.

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