In Carroll County, schools are required to notify parents if a student wishes to change their pronouns or otherwise identify as a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth, according to guidelines published by Carroll County Public Schools (CCPS).
This policy contradicts guidelines published by the Maryland State Department of Education, which does not require schools to share information on a student’s sexuality or gender with their parents or guardians.
Capital News Service analyzed documents obtained from 21 school districts in the state through a Maryland Public Information Act request and found that Carroll County’s school policies on transgender and non-conforming gender students are uniquely stringent in requiring parental notification compared to other counties.
The Carroll County school system states parents should be involved in decisions regarding their child’s gender identity including the student’s choice to use their preferred name, pronouns and desired facilities like restrooms and locker rooms in school.
The CCPS student services manual states when a student informs the school of their wish to change their gender identity or pronouns, the school will arrange a conference that includes the student, school administrator, school counselor and the student’s parent or guardian.
According to the manual, the conference is mandatory “regardless of the parent or guardian’s knowledge of the student’s status”.
CCPS and the county school board declined Capital News Service’s request for an interview and declined to provide a comment regarding their policy.
Wendy Novak, a mother to a transgender child attending high school in Carroll County, believes parental notification policies may be harmful to students.
“Students are the real stakeholders of the system, and by putting parents first, it ignores the fact that there are some abusive parents,” Novak said.
Novak said the problem is not just that parents need to be notified if their child wants to go by a different pronoun but they would need to give consent.
Florence Ashley, assistant professor of law at the University of Alberta, echoes Novak’s sentiment, stating parental notification measures are put in place “for parents who are opposed to their kid being trans and who want to effectively try to discourage their kid from being trans.”
Ashley, who uses they/them pronouns, pushed back on the integrity of a parents ability to know things regarding their child, especially if it will presumably put their child in danger.
“Knowing so that you can help the child grow in their best interests is one thing,” they said. “Having a right to know even if it’s detrimental to their best interests just because you have this sentiment of entitlement is another and that’s one that I don’t think we can accept.”
Mark Eckstein, co-chair of advocacy for Metro DC PFLAG, an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, acknowledged the debate over parental involvement in school matters, particularly for students grappling with identity issues.
“On the surface, yes, of course, everyone wants a parent to be involved and to be notified of how their kid is doing,” Eckstein said. “The issue arises when there aren’t supportive parents.”
According to Eckstein, teachers should first empathize with the student and ensure they are supported at home before involving parents when the student wishes to change their name or gender identity.
He called for state-level action to establish baseline protections.
“A state like Maryland should come in and provide as much local autonomy as possible, but on certain issues, especially those related to civil rights and discrimination and bias, [it] should provide a floor saying that this is the law,” Eckstein said. “These are the things that should be done to protect, in this case, trans students.”
In 2022, Maryland amended and implemented its education policy to include prohibiting discipline of or discrimination against students on the basis of sex, sexual orientation and gender identity.
Almost a decade ago, the Maryland State Department of Education published “Guidelines for Gender Identity Non-Discrimination” which states that schools are not required to notify parents and should make the decision on parental notification based on consultation with the student. The guidelines recognize that “notifying parents carries risks for the students” in some cases.
The Maryland State Department of Education pointed Capital News Service to the “Safe and Supportive Schools for All Students” guide the department released in October, which emphasized all students’ right to privacy.
The guide notes that sensitive information related to student gender identity “generally need not be disclosed without the student’s consent”, even though information in official student records must be shared upon parents request.
The education department highlighted in the guide that there is no state or federal law that “requires schools to affirmatively disclose this sensitive information to parents”.
Although school districts are not required to follow the guidelines proposed by the state education department – districts set their own policies and guidelines– some school districts, like Montgomery County, aim to align their guidelines with the state.
According to Christopher Cram, director at the Department of Communications in Montgomery County Public Schools, Montgomery County’s goal when creating their guidelines was to be inclusive and recognize that LGBTQ+ individuals “are absolutely a part of our community.”
Other Maryland counties– including Anne Arundel, Caroline and Frederick– mention parental notification for students who wish to change their pronouns, but in the policies and guidelines reviewed by CNS, none besides Carroll explicitly require it.
Caroline County, for example, recommends “Case-by-case decisions regarding parent notification should be made in consultation with the student and should reflect all factors that affect the student’s well-being” for high school students in “Transgender Student: Guidelines for Support” from 2021.
Kit Hart, the chapter chair for the Mom’s for Liberty Carroll County chapter, states parents have a fundamental right to be in charge of their child’s “upbringing, education, moral formation and medical decisions.”
“That’s a fundamental right that was given to us by God (that) cannot be taken away,” Hart said.
Mom’s for Liberty is a conservative parent’s rights group that started in January 2021 with chapters across the country.
Many Mom’s for Liberty members are “rightly alarmed” that schools have been overstepping their authority with their kids, and taking parental authority and rights away, according to Suzie Scott, Harford County’s Mom’s for Liberty chapter chair.
“I don’t think gender identity should be discussed in schools. It is, first of all, not a scientific concept, and it is something that, if it is discussed at all, should be discussed at home,” Hart said.
According to the Mom’s for Liberty website, they hold their school board “accountable by maintaining relationships with each of the Board members”.
School district policies are set by these school boards. The Local News Network (LNN) previously reported on the battle for transgender rights being waged in Maryland school districts. Candidates running for school board in 2024 who responded to a LNN survey were nearly split on the issue of parental notification for gender non-conforming students.
Joanna Bache Tobin, who successfully won re-election to the Anne Arundel County school board last month, told LNN that “enabling students to determine for themselves how they wish to be addressed and referred to is critical to that safe and inclusive environment.”
Novak and Shaun Maidens, a mother to a transgender high schooler in Carroll County, have attended school board meetings to bring awareness to the issues faced by their children at school.
Novak and Maidens’ children endured harassment and bullying in high school since coming out.
Ashley emphasizes the importance of trans youth having affirming spaces. For some students, school is the only place they can be themselves, Ashley said.
Maidens uses interactions she has with others that question her son’s identity as a learning moment to expose others to the complexities and normalities of LGBTQ+ youth.
“It’s not really parents’ rights,” Novak said. “It’s parents’ rights to control my child too.”