Good morning, NewPrensa readers! Helene here. I've been following some of the goings-on in the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage school district lately as they're met with controversy from Somali parents surrounding their newly-adopted policies regarding transgender students. “The policy includes a clause about keeping a student’s transgender identity confidential—including from the student’s parents—unless the student authorized the school to share that information” wrote Becky Dernbach with the Sahan Journal. Many parents expressed concern over having information about their children hidden from them as a consequence of the policies. It didn’t help that in recent days, rumors went around social media and Somali WhatsApp groups claiming that the schools would be able to administer gender-affirming hormonal therapies without parents’ knowledge or consent. To be clear, the district can’t do this, or even administer something as small as Tylenol, without parents’ consent.
District employees expressed their thoughts around the impressive turnouts this past week, with some concern over parents’ “venting” setting the conversation back. The energy at the meeting seemed to be fueled by misinformation surrounding the policies themselves and concern for the district inappropriately withholding information from parents about their child’s wellbeing. Still, there were productive conversations that came out of the meeting. Salma Hussein, principal at Gideon Pond Elementary and the only female Somali principal in Minnesota, had conversations with parents after the listening session, where she spoke openly about the importance of representing all students in the school district. The whole situation is complicated, and tensions remain high between some parents and district employees. I think it's fair to say, though, that even while cultural differences can breed misunderstandings, all parties have kept the safety and wellbeing of students as a top priority.
|