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When the North East Independent School District started the new school year Aug. 11, teachers and other staff at the district’s more than 60 schools were given two explicit pieces of guidance to follow that affect every LGBTQ+ student in the district of more than 57,000 students.
First, teachers and other campus employees were told that if a student tells them they’re gay or brings up the topic of gender identity or sexual orientation in any way, then they must notify the student’s parents.
If a student does bring up social transitioning, gender identity, or sexual orientation, a flyer distributed to NEISD employees recommended staff say “thank you for beginning to share that with me. This is an important topic for you and your family. By law, I am not allowed to discuss this topic with students and am required to notify your parent / guardian.”
Second, NEISD leaders told employees they were not allowed to use pronouns or nicknames for students that align or imply a sex other than the one listed on their birth certificate, even if the student’s parents request it. That also means NEISD staff cannot refer to students using they/them pronouns.
Nicknames based on a student's birth name are allowed, but it opens up the possibility that a student named Samantha could be unable to be called Sam, although, according to one teacher, that's a little bit of a gray area.
The parent of one NEISD student told TPR their 16-year-old was called by their birth name on the first day of school for the first time in years. Their teen chose a gender-neutral name for themselves when they were nine.
NEISD officials said the guidance is intended to keep the district in compliance with a new state law that goes into effect Sept. 1.
Senate Bill 12 is a wide-ranging bill that includes a ban on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at K-12 schools and a long list of parental rights. It also bans GSAs and other LGBTQ+ student clubs.
SB 12 is sometimes called "the parental rights bill." But the parent of the 16-year-old NEISD student questioned whether the law was really about parents' rights. "What is the mission? What is the reason for it? And it's not about parents' rights," the parent said. "And again, like I said earlier, it's about making some parents' rights more important than other parents' (rights)."
Other San Antonio area school districts, including Northside and San Antonio ISD, are waiting on guidance from the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Association of School Boards before adopting specific policies on SB 12, although they will still have to comply with the law as best they can once they come back from Labor Day weekend. SAISD trustees adopted a policy verbatim from the bill on Aug. 18 without specifying how it would look in practice.
Some parts of the law are vague and open to interpretation.
However, North East Superintendent Sean Maika said NEISD didn’t want staff to have to make a “mid-year shift.”
“It's so much easier to just begin the year with it, rather than spend 15 days in a building one way, and then try to make an overnight shift,” Maika said.
Because TEA and TASB haven’t issued guidance yet, Maika said NEISD crafted its guidance to campus staff based on recommendations from the district’s attorney.
One provision in SB 12 explicitly states school staff are “prohibited” from “assisting” a student with social transitioning.
It defines social transitioning as “a person’s transition from the person’s biological sex at birth to the opposite biological sex through the adoption of a different name, different pronouns, or other expressions of gender that deny or encourage a denial of the person’s biological sex at birth.”
One NEISD teacher said their campus principal is allowing them to use a student’s initials or last name if they can’t use the student’s preferred name.
Anthony Jarrett, NEISD’s chief instructional officer, agreed, with one important caveat: names have to match the gender listed on the student’s birth certificate.
“They can use nicknames that match their sex. It just can't use a nickname that implies the opposite sex,” Jarrett said. “Like, if a coach will call you AJ, or whatever the case is. You can use names like that.”
Using a last name, however, can have limitations.
“I have three Rodríguezes in one class,” the teacher said.
SB 12 does not explicitly state that schools must notify parents if a student discusses their gender identity or sexual orientation. But Maika and Jarrett said it is implied.
“All of it kind of ties together,” Jarrett said. “So, in conversation with our attorney, that is part of the law. And so, the interpretation is that that is inclusive, because that is essentially witnessing supporting or encouraging behavior that the parent needs to be fully aware of.”
One part of the law says schools “may not provide or allow a third party to provide instruction, guidance, activities, or programming regarding sexual orientation or gender identity to students enrolled in prekindergarten through 12th grade.”
Another part of the law says schools “may not limit parental rights or withhold information from a parent regarding the parent’s child.”
Maika also said he wanted to make sure his employees were protected from the potential consequences of noncompliance.
“A parent can come right after the individual in this. There is no immunity that we've typically been provided,” Maika said. “The parent could sue them.”
Jarrett said a teacher or counselor could also lose their certification.
The ACLU of Texas said in June that it planned to challenge SB 12 in the courts, noting that Florida was required to limit a similar ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law last year.
However, the ACLU of Texas has been focused on blocking SB 10 in recent weeks. SB 10 is the state law requiring schools to post the Ten Commandments posters in classrooms if the posters are donated to the school.
A copy of NEISD's flyer outlining its guidance to staff was provided to TPR by an NEISD teacher. The guidance is also posted on some campus websites.
