midnight lounge dot net: Farming town tackles Transgender in the classroom

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Farming town tackles Transgender in the classroom

Published Friday, August 25, 2006 by midnight lounge | E-mail this post

All eyes are on Upstate New York as a school district tackles transgender issues in the classroom.

Batavia, a small town known for its cow pastures with a thruway split down the middle, is centering community discussion on a science teacher about to begin reassignment surgery.

Meetings are planned with community members and students as the school year gets under way.

Richard Stutzman Jr., Batavia's superintendent, said the school district's administration has researched and planned for community outreach ever since the male teacher sent Stutzman a confidential letter last school year about the teacher's plans to become a woman.

"As an educational institution, knowing that when it did break it would be controversial to some people, we wanted to do everything we could to provide as much information as possible so they could have a better understanding of what this individual is going through," Stutzman said.

The superintendent goes on to say "...[that] the point of such community outreach is to try to ensure that the teacher will be treated like everyone else.

The discricts' stance is surprising to me and I couldn't be more thrilled with their approach. By using the situation as a moment to educate, Batavia sets a tone that may have an effect nationwide on our school systems.

Batavia Takes on Transgender Issue [Via Rochester's Democrat & Chronicle]