Note: These minutes should be considered preliminary until they are approved at the next Policy
and Amendment Committee meeting.
———————————————————————————————————————
Windham Southeast School District (WSESD) Policy and Amendment Committee
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Regular meeting 2:00 pm
Hybrid meeting: WSESU Central Office, 53 Green St., Brattleboro, VT and
Remotely via Zoom
DRAFT MINUTES
Policy and Amendment Committee members present: Deborah Stanford (DS, Chair), Anne
Beekman (AB)
WSESD/U Staff and Administrators present: Superintendent Mark Speno (MS), Mo Hart (MH),
Shannon Kelly (SK), Aidy Holding (AH), Bethany Bechard (BB), Rebecca Olmstead (RO), Tim
Maciel (TM, via zoom), Michaela Simms (MSimms, via zoom)
Guests: Liz Adams (via zoom)
Call to Order
DS convened the meeting at 2:00 p.m. and read the hybrid statement.
Approval of Minutes and confirmation of next meeting date
The minutes of 3/26/25 meeting approved by assent.
The Policy and Amendment Committee normally meets on second and fourth Wednesdays, from 2-4 pm at the WSESU Central Office and on Zoom. Due to conflicts, the committee will meet on the third and fourth Wednesdays in May. The next meetings are scheduled for:
No meeting May 14
May 21
May 28
Policies
F8 Student Medication
Invited Attendee: Rebecca Olmstead, Nurse Leader
DS had carefully proofed the draft policy, and she brought final questions/comments about the detail of language in the policy. These concerns were resolved with the input of the committee and Nurse Leader Rebecca Olmstead. The changes included clarifying when a caregiver (rather than parent/guardian) could be involved, clarifying the UAP definition, correcting grammar errors, maintaining consistency in terminology, and clarifying infelicitous language in the field trip section.
F8 will go for a first reading on 5/13/25.
Gender Freedom in Schools
At the last meeting, the committee reviewed Pietro’s remarks on the draft policy. After that session, SK and AH met with stakeholders to further discuss legal’s response. Today, SK and AH when through Pietro’s comments point by point and shared potential revisions
Page 1, Philosophy, second paragraph. Remove reference to Title IX and strike through footnotes 1 and 2.
Page 1, Goals, third bullet. Remove “according to AOE best practices.”
Page 1, Goals, last two bullets. After a discussion, the following rewrite of the last bullet was proposed: “Develop procedures to ensure the implementation of this policy.” Remove the previous bullet: “Create a structure…”
Page 1-2, Privacy, first two paragraphs. Remove reference to FERPA. After a discussion about keeping information confidential from parents, AH and SK agreed to take the question about privacy back to stakeholders for further input. One suggestion included using the “preferred name” line in PowerSchool, which can be done without parent permission.
Page 3, Professional Development. Stakeholders felt that this paragraph does not infringe on that free speech right. If a person deliberately misgenders a student, that is not civil.
Page 3-4, Facilities. Remove reference to AOE and add a new sentence: “Single use restrooms will be available to all students in all schools.”
Page 4, Facilities, last line in the section: “All students must have consistent access to private changing areas, given the important role privacy plays in fostering student emotional and physical health.” This sentence sparked significant discussion around feasibility, need, and current facilities/practice. DS will ask for input from high schoolers who play sports. Building managers may be able to offer quick fixes, such as suspending curtains, but larger projects will have to be planned for.
Page 4, Curriculum and School Culture, paragraph 1. Rewrite final sentence to read: “The building-based Equity and Social Justice League serves as a resource for administrators and staff who have questions about implementation.
Page 4, Curriculum and School Culture, paragraph 2, affinity groups. Change “affinity groups” to “student groups.” Also, following a concern that the sentence is not needed and could raise objections, remove “Students in the groups may engage in activism to the degree that they choose.” The sentence “Advocacy for gender freedom will not be the students’ responsibility” should be moved earlier in the document, perhaps to the philosophy section.
Page 4, Curriculum and School Culture, paragraph 3 (“School will provide resources…”). This paragraph provoked considerable discussion, particularly around the phrase “therapeutic setting.”
The paragraph will be removed, except for the first sentence, which will be shorted to “Schools will provide resources for students to discuss gender identity in a safe, confidential setting.” This sentence will be moved to the beginning of the section.
Page 4, School Activities, final paragraph. Stakeholder response was that Pietro’s Title IX concern was another hypothetical that shouldn’t prevent all-gender teams from forming. SK noted that right now there are very few all-gender sports teams, and there is an opportunity to do some work here and be a model. Part of the process would be how do to it without discrimination. MS noted that there is one all-gender team at the high school — ultimate frisbee, a newer team.
Next steps: A clean copy of the proposed policy will be sent to a lawyer specializing in LGBT law. (SK will pass along recommended LGBT lawyer names from stakeholders to MS and will cc DS.) The policy will go back to Pietro later.
Gender Freedom is on hold, awaiting review from second attorney.
With apologies for not having time to address additional items on the agenda, DS adjourned the meeting at 3:59 p.m.
Notes taken by Anna Monders (recorder)
Submitted by Anne Beekman (vice chair)
