A new policy requiring school personnel to address students by their chosen names received unanimous approval by the Archuleta School District Board of Education after its second reading on Oct. 14.
The board first considered the policy at its Sept. 10 meeting.
The new policy comes in response to Colorado House Bill 24-1039, which was signed into law in April and requires schools “to implement a written policy outlining how the school will honor a student’s request to use a chosen name.”
While students do not need parental permission to change their preferred name, the policy’s second reading included changes from earlier drafts that further specify how the district plans to involve parents and guardians.
In the final version, the policy states that “parents will be notified of their student’s desire to change to a preferred name,” with exceptions made only in cases “where there are confirmed child safety concerns, as deemed appropriate by the building administrator(s) and counselor(s).”
“[We’re] being really specific about who’s involved in making that decision,” Superintendent Rick Holt said of the changes, which address concerns that board members raised around parental engagement in earlier discussions of the policy.
Holt added that in circumstances of confirmed child abuse, school administrators would pursue alternate routes to ensure student safety.
“If we find out there’s a concern then we’d probably pursue that with DHS [Department of Human Services] … like we do in similar situations where we’re concerned about a child’s welfare,” Holt said. “We’d work with the student and the family and DHS at that point.”
While not used in official school records, chosen names can reflect a student’s preferred gender identity. According to the new policy, school personnel refusing to address students by their chosen names could face disciplinary action.
“The district understands that honest mistakes may occur,” the policy states, “but the intentional or knowing refusal to use a student’s chosen name … is prohibited under this policy and under Colorado law.”
During the meeting, board member Amanda Schick questioned how the district would approach such a situation.
“We’d follow our typical [human resources] procedures for pursuing … staff members who have violated policy,” Holt replied.
He added that any additional punitive steps would be dependent on the results of internal investigations.
“It might trigger some more formal Title IX investigations, which we have a very detailed process for,” Holt said, referring to the federal law protecting students from gender-based discrimination in schools.
The policy also outlines situations in which the district can deny a name-change request, such as when it deems the name “vulgar or offensive, obscene,” or if the name is used for “misrepresentation” or illegal purposes.
Changes to a student’s official record will continue to require parental approval and signatures, or a court order, according to the new policy.
garrett@pagosasun.com
