The Arrowhead Union High School District is the latest in Wisconsin to update its harassment policy by removing the word “gender” and replacing it with “sex,” causing some parents to fear LGBTQ+ students will be targeted.
The Arrowhead school board voted unanimously on the change July 9 with no discussion. The policy was first discussed in June.
The policy change stripped gender status, change of sex and gender identity from the list of protected classes. And a sentence in the policy rounding up “other forms of harassment” removed the word gender and now reads: “Other forms of harassment include verbal or non-verbal expression related to race, sex, age, religion, disability, pregnancy, or sexual orientation.”
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John Norcross’ children went to school in the district. He spoke out against the change at the school board meeting, saying removing the word “gender” removes protections for students from bullying, harassment and discrimination by fellow students, staff and the school board.
“These proposed changes will not make the learning environment or school experience any safer or better,” Norcross said. “In fact, it will make it worse, and it runs the real danger of creating a hostile school environment for kids. It also runs the very real possibility of legal action being taken against the school.”
School officials did not respond to a WPR request for comment.
This is not the first time the Arrowhead school board has made changes regarding gender policies.
In September 2022, the board approved a policy requiring parental permission for students’ names, nicknames and pronouns to be changed while at school.
In July 2024, the board banned pride flags and safe space signs.
Norcross said before the board passed the latest policy change last week, LGBTQ+ students were attending school board meetings, saying they were having a terrible experience at school and a terrible experience at home.
“I don’t know how much worse it can get for the kids,” Norcross said. “I’ve had parents come to me saying, ‘You know, in a very, in a very strange way, it doesn’t matter that they took these words out, John, my kids are still getting bullied, and no one did anything about it.’”
Arrowhead is not alone.
Last fall, Fair Wisconsin and GSAFE filed complaints with the Office for Civil Rights and the U.S. Department of Education against the School District of Waukesha and the Kettle Moraine School District for similar actions taken by the board.
President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order entitled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”
That order calls for all agencies and departments, including the Department of Education to enforce “all sex-protective laws to promote the reality that there are two sexes, male and female, and that these sexes are not changeable.”
Still, Brian Juchems, senior director of education and policy at GSAFE, an advocacy organization for LGBTQ+ students, called the actions taken by Arrowhead “mean-spirited” and “dangerous.”
“Their vote tacitly condoned the mistreatment of trans people in their community, which is irresponsible and dangerous,” Juchems said. “And it’s not just trans students who are in danger. Any student who doesn’t conform to strict gender role expectations are now more vulnerable to harm.”
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