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The redacted complaint is the result of a five-month investigation by ACLU-PA lawyers who interviewed dozens of students, family members, current and former teachers, other school staff, and community stakeholders, according to the organization.
The school district promoted a toxic educational environment for LGBTQ+ students that has been exacerbated recently by homophobic and transphobic actions and policies taken by the school board and upper-level administrators, officials said.
Because the students in the complaint are all minors and due to the sensitive nature of the allegations, neither the names of the students nor the specifics of the discrimination they faced will be made public by officials, they said.
“The students we represent share a common theme: they’ve endured persistent and often severe bullying by peers based on their sexual orientation or gender identity,” said Reggie Shuford, executive director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania.
“The bullying was ignored by key school administrators and staff when the students sought help. The climate has become so bad in some school buildings that trans students are afraid to eat in the cafeteria and even go to school. This is no way to educate and treat children. It’s immoral, unethical, and illegal.”
The organization alleges that the district has perpetuated a toxic educational environment by cutting ties with nonprofit organizations that facilitated conversations about welcoming and belonging, a release states.
Some of the actions school officials allegedly took include banning pride flags, instructing teachers to dead-name and misgender students unless the student’s parents say otherwise, enacting new library and curriculum policies designed to remove LGBTQ-themed books and learning resources, and more.
The district also has steadfastly refused pleas from students, parents, and teachers to provide district-wide training to staff about how to support LGBTQ+ students or enact policies to prevent discrimination, according to the organization.
Now, the organization has asked federal agencies to order the school district to take at least the measures recommended by the U.S. Department of Education for supporting transgender and other gender-nonconforming youth in school and to take any other action necessary to eliminate the hostile environment for LGBTQ+ students.
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