Music Teacher’s Sex Change Operation Causes Outcry at Foxboro Elementary

In Vacaville, California, parents prefers their music teachers to remain one gender — or at least give them notice when a gender changes. When a music teacher returned to school as a man after an operation, parents protested and children have been pulled from his class.

The school insists that giving parents prior notice would have violated HIPAA privacy rules.

While the school said that it consulted with counsel, I am not sure why such notice could not be sent to parents. After all, the teacher is reportedly overtly and publicly now a male. If the teacher is now presenting himself as a male and being called mister, this would not seem to be a private fact. Obviously, all of the kids came home and stated the obvious. More importantly, the teacher should have voluntarily agreed to such notification. Obviously, many kids will not understand the change and parents should have been given an opportunity to explain it to them. It served no one to have the matter handled in this way.

Obviously, transgender teachers should be protected in their right to teach in the public school system. However, the parents have a point about the lack of notice and this could have been handled in a way that would have reduced tensions.

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