A Dallas ISD program instructed teachers to have a “transition policy in place for students” that included allowing the use of preferred pronouns and locker rooms, according to documents obtained by The Dallas Express.
The Out for Safe Schools program is a partnership between Dallas ISD and the Resource Center, an LGBT clinic that facilitates transgender hormone usage and provides references for sex-alteration surgeries. The program instructs teachers on how to work with LGBT students in the district.
District officials have been allocating resources to promote such programs even as their students continue to perform poorly on standardized examinations and other student achievement metrics.
According to the Texas Education Agency, only 35% of third-graders scored at grade level or above in math on their most recent STAAR exams. Sixth-graders and eighth-graders also scored very low marks, with just 32% and 33% scoring at grade level, respectively. Additionally, as many as half of the students who were administered the writing portion of the exam received a zero, though there may have been issues with the grading tool, per the Dallas Observer.
A PowerPoint presentation for the program obtained by DX shows teachers were instructed on how to help students transition genders. One slide defines “Transition” as “the process of transitioning the body to match one’s internal gender.”
“There is no one right way — it’s very personal, and asking about whether someone is planning on having or has had surgery or any medical procedure is inappropriate,” the slide reads.
Teachers are then advised to “Have a transition policy in place for students,” which includes “Determining whether there is concern about parental acceptance.” The PowerPoint recommends establishing a policy for “dealing with name and pronoun changes plus access to sex segregated facilities.”
The presentation mentions the need for a policy covering “transitioning teachers/staff.”
Dallas ISD did not respond to a request for comment.
The PowerPoint’s title page listed two Resource Center employees: Rafael McDonnell, the senior advocacy, policy, and communications manager, and Leslie McMurray, the transgender education and advocacy coordinator. Neither responded to a request for comment.
One slide lists the statement that there “are only two genders” under “Myths/Perceptions.” Another phrase listed as a myth includes, “Teenagers are too young and immature to understand their sexual orientation or gender.”
The PowerPoint emphasized the importance of preferred pronouns.
“Pronouns — They really matter! { he, she, they, zhe, hir},” it reads. “If someone tells you their pronouns — please use them. Getting misgendered hurts like a slap in the face and can put us in harm’s way.”
“Privilege is never having the wrong pronouns used,” another slide states. “Sharing yours takes nothing from you but can make us feel more comfortable around you.”
The slides define terms such as sexual orientation, bisexual, heterosexual, asexual, ace, gender identity, transgender, gender non-binary, gender-diverse, genderqueer, pangender, queer, and questioning.
“Drag is performance!” one slide states.
Another slide details how to create “safe spaces.”
A slide on different classifications of bullying stated concerns about lawmakers.
“Legislative: Proliferation of anti-trans bills this session,” the bullying slide stated.
The PowerPoint was sent in a March 2022 email.
Dallas ISD and Resource Center deleted mentions of the Out for Safe Schools program this year in response to a series of reports from DX. Other documents obtained in open records requests showed there was little interest from teachers in the program. The program appears to have never been properly certified through the district.
Relatedly, the district published a guide in 2021 on how to transition genders that included recommendations for specific transgender clinics, as previously reported by DX.
Robyn Harris, the executive director of Dallas ISD’s communications team, previously said the document was only available at the request of parents and teachers. However, it was revealed to be a public Google document openly shared by the district on social media. The document was made private after the story was published.