BOARD MEETING Lethbridge School District No. 51 POLICY SEXUAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY AND GENDER EXPRESSION

POLICY DEVELOPMENT  Prior to addressing the second reading of Policy 502.2, the Board believes it is important to review the processes that were implemented to get to this point. The reading of this policy today is preceded by development characterized by substantial input including:

PUBLIC INPUT  School Council representation on the Policy Committee  School Council parent advocacy for a separate policy distinguishing Policy from the broader policy of Policy Welcoming, Caring, Respectful and Safe Learning Environments  School Council hosted meeting of over 130 parents for input on the initial draft  Feedback from Alberta School Board Association legal counsel  Ongoing online feedback loops and s from the public  Nominees and speakers from the floor at the Public Meeting held March 23.  Most recently, a committee formed during the Public Meeting held March 23 in response to a public petition in accordance with Section 269 of the School Act, drafted and presented recommendations presented to the Board on April 19.

STAND-ALONE POLICY  The Board supports a stand-alone policy. Careful consideration was given as to whether this policy infringes on any child’s rights, freedoms, safety, or privacy and it was determined that it does not.  The Board considered whether this policy, in any way, will have a negative impact on any child in the district. The Board takes the responsibility for the care and safety of all children very seriously, and believe that this has been demonstrated this over a number of years.  The Board considered whether this policy will benefit any children, and the answer is yes.

CHANGE: PRIOR TO FIRST READING  Given the interest expressed by parents and the public for input into this policy, the policy was put out for feedback prior to first reading. Feedback came from a well-attended parent meeting hosted by the District School Council, an online feedback loop posted on our website, s, and letters.  Seven changes were made based on feedback. The changes were posted on the website.  These changes primarily addressed the perspective that the policy needed to be more inclusive, including removing the term minority (replaced with diverse), expanding the definition of clubs, and clarifying the right to confidentiality is directly relative to privacy as written in Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

CHANGE: FOLLOWING PUBLIC MEETING COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS  Chart for Board April Comparing Committee Recommendations and Second Reading Version docx.docx Chart for Board April Comparing Committee Recommendations and Second Reading Version docx.docx

BOARD REVIEW OF RECOMMENDATIONS  The Board carefully reviewed the recommendations at a special meeting April 19.  As will be noted, most of the recommendations were retained as presented by the committee

CHANGE FOLLOWING BOARD MEETING POSTING  A second reading draft was posted with the agenda on Friday.  Over the time period since the posting, the Board has further discussed the distinction between the committee’s recommendations for 2.1 regarding parental rights and the new 2.4 regarding parental rights.  A. committee recommended: “respect the legal rights of parents and guardians”  B. Board changed to as posted: “respect that parents and guardians have the right to make informed decisions respecting the education of their children, in accordance with the Alberta Bill of Rights”

Parental Rights component of policy  The Board recognized that parent rights are part of various laws.  Regardless of the policy, these are rights accorded to parents in law.  As such, inclusion in this policy does not change how a school or school district is compelled to respond to these rights; a response would be required whether or not they are identified in the policy.  The inclusion of the phrase, “respect the legal rights of parents and guardians” does not detract from the intent of the policy to recognize and protect a diversity of sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions.

CHANGE to Regulation 2.4  As such the following change has been made to the proposed policy for 2 nd reading:  Regulation 2.4 to read, “respect the legal rights of parents and guardians, including the right to make informed decisions respecting the education of their children, in accordance with the Alberta Bill of Rights.”

Second Reading Comparison to Committee Recommendations with Change  Chart for Board April Comparing Committee Recommendations and Second Reading Version2 docx.docx Chart for Board April Comparing Committee Recommendations and Second Reading Version2 docx.docx

CLOSING COMMENTS  The Board has given this policy serious consideration through reflection on the breadth of feedback including community, parents, students, staff, and the most recent recommendations provided by the Public Meeting Committee. We feel that the draft we have before us today fulfills the legal requirements of Bill 10 and the School Act, maintains the integrity of the policy’s intent to protect a vulnerable population, as well as respect the diversity of students and expressed community concern for some aspects of the policy.