Small crowd at Fort Worth ISD transgender bathroom forum
The first of a series of public forums about Fort Worth ISD’s transgender bathroom policy attracted a small crowd on Tuesday night.
Nearly two dozen speakers stepped up to a microphone at Dunbar High School and all but two were against the new guidelines.
"The FWISD recently crammed a perverted bathroom policy down the throats of the citizens of Fort Worth,” said Von Durham.
Tuesday night’s meeting was the first of six community forums where board members and Superintendent Kent Scribner will get feedback from the community on the controversial policy. The forums were added by the superintendent in April.
The wording of the guidelines allows transgender students to use whichever bathroom or locker room they choose. Administrators are instructed to refer to students as "students or scholars instead of 'boys and girls'." The guidelines also prevent administrators in some cases from talking to parents about a student's gender identity choices at school.
Scribner addressed the parent concern and recent legal challenges to the guidelines.
"I'm an educator, not an activist and as an educator my job is to provide a safe and nurturing learning environment so our children can prepare for success in college career and community leadership. We followed the law and I understand there's talk in the legislature, if the law changes we'll follow the new law,” Scribner said.
The parent organization formed after the guidelines were announced, Stand For Fort Worth, accused the superintendent of intentionally keeping parents in the dark when he drew up the guidelines.
"Superintendent Scribner did not engage parents in in the formation of the policy nor was the superintendent eager to hear from parents who were concerned,” said Zeb Pent of SFFW. “In fact the first meeting in which he had an opportunity to hear from parents he told them they were wrong."