The Greene County School District is looking to implement a new policy based on a new state law that went into effect July 1st.

The School Board approved at its August meeting the first reading of a new board policy 503.7 – Student Disclosure of Identity. Superintendent Brett Abbotts says this policy was from the recommendation of the Iowa Association of School Boards about the new state law regarding how a student wants to be addressed.

“If a student expresses a desire to be referred to by a different gender, name, pronoun, or even nickname and they report that to a teacher, the policy and the legislation piece says that that teacher then needs to report to the (building) administrator, then the administrator makes the call to the parent to express what was stated.”       

Abbotts notes after the parent is contacted and they give permission for that to change, the parent would fill out a form, which would be documented with the district and the changes finalized in the district’s database and shared with that student’s teachers. 

Abbotts adds because the School Board still needs to approve the second reading of the new policy before it can become implemented, he urges conversations to happen with parents and children as the district will continue to work with families. Click the links below to see the new policy. 

503.7: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FFJvKseL90vBoCr6BoveQPVBNYTKCrZ0/view

503.7 E1: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EeeYKEAVdW5PBydORWnc-M_t_EVgH7e5/view

503.7 E2: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EdunjLMM_CsNHU4w9jdsA4GeZLtG8nS1/view