The New Westminster board of education quietly passed a motion that promotes inclusion of students of all genders and sexual orientations in local schools, with none of the outrage of neighbouring districts.
Similar policy changes rattled parents in Vancouver and Burnaby, but there was not even a single person on hand at Tuesday's school board's committee meeting, where trustees unanimously voted to upgrade the policy.
"I look at the audience and I think we've done a darn good job of developing policy," trustee Michael Ewen said in regards to the empty quarters at Tuesday's committee meeting, which started with a full house, when the high school presented on its Discover Apprenticeship program.
While the policy passed at the committee level, it still has to come before the board of education before it is fully implemented. The policy includes the creation of a standing committee to explore and make recommendations regarding sexual orientations and gender identities.
The policy was crafted after an enormous amount of consultation with New Westminster Pride Society members and many other groups, superintendent John Gaiptman told the board.
"This has been a well thought out, there was lots of discussion, lots of consultation. I think it's an important policy and I thank the board for taking the initiative," he said.
Trustee Jonina Campbell agreed, praising the policy which she has says has more "teeth" than the district's previous one.
It was Campbell who called for the policy update after hearing a transgender teen talk in Vancouver.
Trustees hammered out a minor change to the working of a single sentence, but generally applauded the policy, which is noted that be a "living" document, meaning that its language may change over time.
"The intent wasn't to have the committee police the policy; the intent was to have a living policy," Gaiptman said. "The last policy that we passed on this was 18 months ago, and my God, if that's where we were 18 months ago have we ever moved."
Trustee Casey Cook agreed, saying, "If you look at language, (the LBGT community) is using concepts that six months ago didn't exist. Even amongst the community itself, there's not agreement."
The district's new policy covers where they want to get to, Cook added.
Gaiptman re-drafted a gender/sexual orientation policy to help guide the district in a direction that promotes inclusion and "actively supports diversity."
The policy has the bite Campbell was looking for, covering safety issues for children of all sexual orientations and gender identities.
Both Gaiptman and Campbell told The Record earlier in the school year that there are transgender students in New Westminster schools, though they don't know the exact numbers because, Campbell said, it's not something they track. There is also a gay/straight alliance club at New Westminster Secondary School.
Some Vancouver parents were concerned about having gender-neutral washrooms in schools. In New West, Gaiptman said the new policy is a less blanketed approach in terms of bathroom use. Students can use single-use washrooms in a number of local schools, Gaiptman said.
"Just about every school does, but if we run into an issue where we have to do something ... we will then discuss the issue at that school and what we can do to rectify the situation," Gaiptman told The Record.
