Wisconsin Schools Adopt Measures Requiring Parental Permission For Name, Pronoun Change

The Daily Caller

Wisconsin Schools Adopt Measures Requiring Parental Permission For Name, Pronoun Change

Reagan Reese on January 17, 2023

Several Wisconsin school boards have adopted guidance that require students to have parental permission before changing their gender identity at school.

The Muskego-Norway School Board, the Waukesha School District Board of Education and Arrowhead School Board have recently approved guidance that requires parental permission before a student can change their name and pronouns at school. The adopted guidance is an effort to increase transparency between the school district and parents in their child’s education.

“The stress and anxiety related to issues such as gender identity will continue to cause problems for a teenager the longer the child has to hide the issue from parents and delay seeking guidance and assistance from parents,” Corrie Houston, a Muskego resident, said at the Monday board meeting, according to WTMJ News. “Hiding a child’s problem or concerns from parents will delay resolution to the problem and extend the confusion a child may be experiencing.”


The Muskego-Norway School Board unanimously approved the policy on Monday, now requiring written or electronic authorization from a student’s parent before their preferred name, pronoun, gender and race classifications, according to WTMJ News.


On Jan. 11, the Waukesha School District Board of Education passed its “Parental Rights and Transparency” guidance 8-0, which stated that educators are not permitted to address students by a name or pronoun different from their official records without parental permission, according to Fox 6.

Students are to use bathrooms, locker rooms and to join sports teams on the basis of biological sex rather than gender identity under the Waukesha guidance. Students can file for an exception to the guidance which must be approved by the Superintendent and parents.

The Arrowhead School Board approved a policy 8-1 that requires students to receive their parent’s permission before changing their gender at school, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“I find it interesting that, as a dad, that I’m alerted to my kids’ grades,”Chris Farris, Arrowhead board member, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I’m alerted if they’re marked absent. I’m alerted if they’re going on a field trip. I have to sign up on all that stuff. That’s pretty minor stuff. If it’s something big, I want to know about it, and parents have the right to know. That’s all we’re asking.”

The Muskego-Norway School Board, the Waukesha School District Board of Education and the Arrowhead School Board did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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