D49 board leaders postpone resolution decision which recognizes only two sexes
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - A gender policy debate is playing out in School District 49.
As part of their special meeting on Wednesday night, D49 leaders spoke about what it would mean to adopt a two-sex policy resolution.
The resolution is titled "Protecting Safety and Privacy for Boys and Girls in All School Settings".
Some are calling it a distraction, while others emphasize the need to fall in with recent executive orders signed by President Trump.
"With no clear path forward, this feels performative and unnecessary. I should have been giving my attention this week to the 144-page comprehensive financial report we briefly discussed. Instead we're dealing with what looks to me to be a distraction," Treasurer Mike Heil said.
Director Deb Schmidt said, "The deal is that if the district fails to recognize and honor biological sex, we are put at risk of losing federal funding, and I really don't think President Trump is kidding around when he says that."
D49 leaders discussed a proposed resolution draft that emphasizes the difference between biological "sex" and "gender identity" as defined by state and federal legislation.
As worded right now, the resolution would mandate that locker rooms, bathrooms, and sporting events be separated by biological sex: male and female.
Some board members disagree on that, as well as some parents in the district, "As a coach, I've got a lot of kids who identify across the full spectrum from, you know, cis to trans and using all different types of pronouns and if this was something put in as is, it would definitely hamper, I think, the ability for my students to feel comfortable just being themselves," Matthew Skelton said.
To give them more time to discuss the language in the current resolution, leaders ultimately chose to schedule an executive session regarding the two sex resolution for next Thursday, April 3rd.
Following that, leaders could vote on its fate at their next full meeting on April 10th.
