A Colorado teachers union allegedly advised its members to hide evidence they surveyed students on their gender identity.
The Jefferson County Education Association warned teachers in an email that parents may be able to obtain records of surveys from schools on their children’s gender identity, CBS News Colorado reported. The union advised that teachers should limit evidence of such surveys if they decide to conduct them.
“[I]f you do a questionnaire, please make it a paper and pencil activity — any digital records are more permanent and may be requested under federal law,” the union said in an email to teachers. “[M]ake your notations about students and [do] not hold on to the documents.”
The Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act grants parents the right to access school information and records.
Additionally, both mandatory and voluntary surveys that ask students about personal protected information are reportedly illegal in Colorado unless parents can opt their children out of them.
Brooke Williams, the president of the union, provided a statement to CBS News in defense of gender identity surveys being kept from parents.
“By allowing students an optional avenue to share their preferred pronouns while maintaining student privacy, we can better ensure that students feel safe, respected, and validated,” the statement reads. “We encourage and support educators to follow [the school] district policy which states: School staff shall not disclose information that may reveal a student’s transgender status to others, including parents and other school staff, unless legally required to do so or unless the student has authorized such disclosure.”
“Transgender and gender nonconforming students have the right to discuss and express their gender identity and expression openly and to decide when, with whom, and how much to share private information,” Williams added.
The union claimed the school district had previously sent contradictory messages to teachers about whether they could survey students on gender identity. However, a slide the district previously sent teachers states, “[P]lease no preferred pronoun/gender identity questionnaire” and “Do not promise to keep information from parents.”
Susan Miller, a member of the school board, said the union needs to issue a retraction.
“The leadership actually provided an avenue to get around the law and basically [said] it was OK,” Miller told CBS News.
