CLIFTON, Texas — A newly adopted policy from the Clifton Independent School District states that employees, educators and other district staff are not to "encourage, discourage or require the use of pronouns inconsistent with a student's... biological sex."
The policy, which was adopted at a 5-2 vote, has been sent to the Texas Association of School Boards to be included in the district's board policy manual.
Several parents voiced their disappointment in the board's decision.
"It's discouraging and disheartening to have this focus put on pronouns when, as I stated in the board meeting on Monday, our students can't identify a pronoun in a sentence," said Callum Schlumpf, a transgender parent who has a non-binary student in the district.
Schlumpf said the policy is inherently "discriminatory."
"This also impacts how they're treated by other students, because the policy as written makes it so that teachers and administrators cannot provide any repercussions in the case of bullying based of gender identity," Schlumpf said. "That's a serious issue not to be overlooked."
Jeff Hampton, a father of three boys in the Clifton ISD system, said his children are already "speaking up" about the policy, which he said aligns with bullying.
"I think there are instances where a teacher will be fine referring to a child by a different gender, or a superhero name," Hampton said. "Let's not forget, these are kids."
Hampton said children "should be encouraged to explore" and believes this policy is "targeting a certain subset (of students)."
"If I'm not mistaken, that matches the statute definition of bullying," Hampton said.
In a statement to 6 News, Superintendent Andy Ball said the district "will continue to work to promote and strive for the success of students."
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