Kalispell Public Schools is holding a meeting Wednesday to discuss policy changes to accommodate transgender students and other students who identify as having non-traditional gender identities.

The issue first came up in a January board meeting when the board was considering a policy update on nondiscrimination.

Passing revisions recommended by the Montana School Boards Association to school policy language is routine for Kalispell Public Schools Board of Trustees after three readings.

However, the recommended revision regarding sexual orientation and gender identity to policy 3210R on Equal Education, Nondiscrimination and Sex Equity left the board wanting deeper discussion by a subcommittee before taking action.

Current policy outlines that the district will provide equal educational opportunities and activities to all students regardless of things such as race, color, sex, religious belief and disability, among others.

Additional language would add gender identity and sexual orientation to that list and “failure to conform to stereotypical notions of masculinity or femininity,” in accordance to the Federal Office of Civil Rights and Title IX.

The Policy Committee met after the January meeting and decided that the new language was unnecessary because current language allows for no discrimination, period.

 At a second reading of the policy change during a Feb. 10 board meeting, Trustee Don Murray objected to removing the additional language to make gender identity a specific protected class.

According to the minutes of the Feb. 10 meeting, “Trustee Murray would like to see the Board on the forefront of language in regards to sexual identity,” rather than leave it up to the Policy Committee.

In the lengthy discussion that followed, board members debated whether the additional language would mean the district would have to establish private or gender-neutral bathrooms.

Murray argued that the inclusive language was necessary, and that he didn’t think the bathroom situation “should be a hindrance to stating that we do not tolerate discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, etc.”

Murray made the point that the change would be “important to our students, some of whom are the most picked on, who suffer from cutting, thoughts of suicide, and depression.”

Glacier High School Principal Callie Langohr confirmed that there are students “who could benefit from this [revised] language,” but said the school district also needs clarification on how to handle issues related to transgender students.

“We have students now who have or are currently undergoing gender reassignment, and we are going to have to have some guidance. At what point are they considered male (if transferring from female to male), etc.,” she asked, according to board minutes from the Feb. 10 meeting.

In order to get more guidance, an ad hoc subcommittee of district personnel and board members was created. This subcommittee will meet for the first time to discuss the additional language at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the basement of the district office at 233 First Ave. E.

The meeting may result in a recommendation to the district’s Policy Committee, which would then make a recommendation to the school board. According to the minutes from the Feb. 10 meeting, the process to approve revisions to Policy 3210 on nondiscrimination and sex equity will start over again at that point.

Reporter Hilary Matheson can be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.