The Logan City School District Board of Education passed amendments to the transgender students section of their policy manual at the Feb. 27 board meeting.
Logan City School District Superintendent Frank Schofield said that the changes made were to be in line with the recently passed House Bill 257 affecting transgender individuals’ use of bathrooms passed by the Utah Legislature.
Schofield said that HB 257 affects many things that the school district will need to look at in the future, including working with a legal counsel. He said that right now, the district is only looking to make a small change to their policy wording to make sure it is in line with the new state laws.
“This is one element that’s a simple thing that we want to make this shift to make sure our policy remains compliant with state law,” Schofield said.
The policy manual section on transgender students was last modified in May 2022. In the now previous iteration of the manual, the section on facilities stated that multiple accommodations may be made for transgender students, including the possibility of transgender students using the restroom and other private areas that correspond to their gender identity.
“In addition to having the transgender student use the facilities corresponding with the gender identity, potential accommodations include use of single user restrooms or changing spaces or using facilities at a different time than other students,” the manual read.
The new iteration of the policy manual, which was updated as of Feb. 28, removes that instance and other instances of wording regarding transgender students using facilities that correspond with their gender identity.
“A student may only access an operational sex-designated privacy space within a public school that is designated for student use if the student’s sex corresponds with the sex designation of the privacy space,” the new policy reads.
The new policy still has the possibility of other accommodations being made at a student’s request, including using a single occupant unisex facility, using a staff restroom or scheduling individual use of a private facility when other students will not have access to it.
Schofield said that Logan High School does currently have single use facilities that transgender students will be able to use.
“So, a biological male needs to use the male restroom, a biological female needs to use the female restroom,” Schofield said. “Unless you have restrooms that are not sex designated, in which case they can be used. For example, we have our unisex restroom at Logan High, that is still compliant with state law.”
Schofield also said that many of the elementary schools in the district also have single occupant restrooms that can be used. Some are currently usable by anyone, and some are primarily faculty restrooms, but could be used as part of a transgender student’s accommodations.
Schofield also clarified that the new policy will affect all sex designated private spaces, not just restrooms. This includes facilities such as locker rooms and changing rooms.
“Adding this language to our policy still allows us to provide flexibility for students based on the facilities that we have, but it keeps us compliant with the new stipulations of the state law,” Schofield said.
The Logan City School District Board of Education discussed the proposed changes. Board members agreed that while this is a big change to their policy, they really don’t have much option except to make the change to be compliant with the law.
After discussion, the board voted unanimously to accept the changes to the district’s policy manual. The manual was updated on the school district’s website as of Feb. 28.
To view Logan City School District’s full policy manual, including the new transgender student updates, visit loganschools.org/online-policy-manual. The section of the manual regarding transgender students is section FB.
HB 257 was signed by Utah Governor Spencer Cox on Jan.30. Entities such as the school district have until May 1 to comply with the new restrictions.
