Most school districts pay the New Hampshire School Boards Association (NHSBA) dues out of the school budget. This means that taxpayers are funding a lobbying organization that promoted a policy that put every child in New Hampshire at risk of sexual assault. The NHSBA sent a model policy to school districts that paid dues to their organization. Several school boards then adopted the policy based on their recommendation. That policy changed the bathroom policy for transgender and gender non-conforming students and, put all children at risk for sexual assault.
Parents have been concerned for their children now that these policies include language allowing children of the opposite sex to use the bathroom and locker room. Anyone with a teenager knows that there is a possibility of that “one student” taking advantage of a policy like this in order to gain access to the locker or bathroom. Unfortunately, that happened to a 5-year old girl who became a victim of sexual assault based on these new policies.
Check your school budget to see if dues are paid to the NHSBA. Then ask local taxpayers to attend the next school board meeting and request that dues to the NHSBA no longer be paid by taxpayers out of the school budget.
School board members are elected to develop policy. There is no reason to pay dues to a lobbying organization that promotes policies that put children at risk of sexual assault. School boards have access to attorneys that work for the school district if they need legal advice.
It is URGENT that parents also check their local school policy to see if it reflects what the NHSBA recommended a few years ago. If so, request that the current policy be changed immediately before this happens to a child in New Hampshire.
According to this announcement from Alliance Defending Freedom;
“The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has announced that it will investigate a complaint that Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys, along with a local family law attorney, filed against the City Schools of Decatur on behalf of a kindergartener who was sexually assaulted in her school bathroom. The complaint explains that the school’s new transgender restroom policy opened the door to the assault of a 5-year-old female student by a boy in the girls’ restroom at her elementary school.”
In the press release the ADF Attorney reminds us;
“This situation was both deeply tragic and avoidable,” said ADF Legal Counsel Christiana Holcomb. “Schools have a duty to protect the privacy and safety of all students and Decatur Schools clearly failed this young girl. The current approach that many schools are taking of passing these transgender bathroom policies isn’t working; they fail to provide basic privacy or ensure the safety of all students.”
TAKE ACTION NOW
1) Check to see when your next school board meeting is scheduled.
2) Attend the meeting and during public comments inquire about the current bathroom policy.
3) Present the Press Release to your board members and request that NO policy be adopted that puts children at risk of sexual assault.
4) If the current policy allows biological males or females to use the bathroom opposite of their biological sex, request that the policy be changed.
5) Ask if there are any dues paid to the NHSBA (New Hampshire School Boards Association) If so, request that dues no longer be paid by taxpayers out of the budget.
For a sample policy that is considerate of all students see:
StudentPhysicalPrivacyPolicy