The Lower Kuskokwim School District will continue allowing students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their gender identities.
Last week the Trump administration rescinded protections the Obama administration had created for transgender students in public schools. Beginning in May 2016, under Obama, public schools could lose federal funding for violating those protections under guidance issued on a federal law known as Title IX.
Carlton Kuhns, Assistant Superintendent of the Lower Kuskokwim School District, says LKSD will continue operating under the Obama guidelines until the state or School Board hands down new orders.
“It’ll be sometime before that has to be grappled with, I believe, if at all,” said Kuhns.
Current LKSD policy bars gender identity discrimination in academic and extracurricular programs but does not specify bathroom or locker room use in its nondiscrimination clauses. For now, students can continue using the bathroom and locker rooms that match their gender identities.
