Las Cruces public schools outline policies to serve transgender students

The Las Cruces Public School district will train principals and staff members to acccomodate the needs of transgender students, as outlined by a seven-page document released to the public on Tuesday.

“Until we establish a safe environment and a welcoming environment, education is put on the back burner,” said Ray Jaramillo, the board member for district one.

Three in four transgender students feel unsafe in schools, according to a study by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.

“We’re beginning to teach acceptance,” said Superintendent Dr. Greg Ewing. “Accepting all students for who they are.”

If a student chooses to disclose their transgender status to a staff member, that will not authorize the staffer to “publicly disclose to others such educational or medicational information about the student, unless there is a legitimate educational need to do so,” according to the document.

Transgender students will also have access to the “restroom that corresponds to their gender identity” and district officials will provide a private restroom facility if the student asks for it, the document stated.

Any student who wants greater privacy in a locker room “shall be provided such accomodations,” whether that is a private area in the locker room, a separate changing schedule or using a nearby private area.

Read the document below:

“I’m really happy that this is even being discussed,” said Everette Meike, a New Mexico State instructor and student who identifies as transmasculine and non-binary.

Because Meike does not identify as male or female, the California native prefers to use the pronouns of “them” and “their.”

“A lot of people see me and think, ‘That’s a dude,'” Meike said. “That’s not how I feel.”

A spokeswoman told ABC-7 that these are not new policies; rather, the district is compiling existing practices into the seven-page document. The district will offer an awareness training this summer for principals who can then implement the guidance with their staff members.

While Meike did not attend public schools in Las Cruces, they told ABC-7 that the conversations in the school district are promising.

“We should just, in general, allow people to express themselves how they want to express themselves and identify how they want to identify,” Meike said.