May 14, 2024 Policy Update
At its May 14, 2024 regular business meeting, the School Board had a first reading of a new policy on gender inclusion, which would be numbered as policy 5025 regarding gender inclusion.
Following an ask from community members, the policy committee processed this topic over the course of the past few months and ultimately recommended the draft policy presented at the meeting.
The policy, which is largely modeled after language found in other school districts within Minnesota, codifies protections found in statute, regulation, and case law, into MPS policy. And while many of its provisions are already established MPS practices, having a dedicated policy allows students, staff, and families to review the district’s gender inclusion procedures in one place.
The timing of this policy also happens to coincide with the release of the updated federal Department of Education’s Title IX regulations. This policy will provide a governance framework to ensure compliance with these updated rules, which go into effect on August 1st of this year.
The new policy is scheduled to be voted upon at the June 11 regular business meeting.