Names and Pronouns
If a student so chooses, district personnel shall be required to address the student by a name and the pronouns consistent with the student’s gender identity, without the necessity of legal documentation or a change to the student’s official district record. The student’s age is not a factor. For example, children as early as age two are expressing a different gender identity. It is strongly suggested that teachers privately ask transgender or gender nonconforming students at the beginning of the school year how they want to be addressed in class, in correspondence to the home, or at conferences with the student’s parents.
In addition to preserving a transgender student’s privacy, referring to a transgender student by the student’s chosen name and pronouns fosters a safe, supportive and inclusive learning environment. To ensure that transgender students have equal access to the programs and activities provided by the school, all members of the school community must use a transgender student’s chosen name and pronouns. Schools should also implement safeguards to reduce the possibility of inadvertent slips or mistakes, particularly among temporary personnel such as substitute teachers.
f a member of the school community intentionally uses a student’s incorrect name and pronoun, or persistently refuses to respect a student’s chosen name and pronouns, that conduct should be treated as harassment. That type of harassment can create a hostile learning environment, violate the transgender student’s privacy rights, and increase that student’s risk for harassment by other members of the school community. Examples of this type of harassment include a teacher consistently using the student’s incorrect name when displaying the student’s work in the classroom, or a transgender student’s peers referring to the student by the student’s birth name during class, but would not include unintentional or sporadic occurrences. Depending on the circumstances, the school’s failure to address known incidents of that type of harassment may violate California’s antidiscrimination laws.
All schools are to accurately indicate the student’s chosen name, as affirmed by the parents or legal guardian, on all records. If the student has previously been known by his/her birth name, the parents may request that the student record be amended to reflect the student’s chosen name. The school should promptly train all teachers, staff, and school administrators to use the student’s chosen name. In all instances, where a student is using a chosen name, the birth name is considered private information and is not to be disclosed. Some transgender children may have a legal change of name; however, not all will. The student’s chosen name, where confirmed by parents or a legal guardian, is to be used regardless of whether or not the student has completed a legal name change.
School personnel should use the name and pronouns appropriate to the student’s gender identity regardless of the student’s assigned birth sex. Continued intentional misuse of the student’s name and pronouns, and reference to the student’s former gender by school personnel or peers may undermine the student’s therapeutic treatment and potentially deny the student an equal educational opportunity, and is contrary to the goal of treating all students with dignity and respect. Such misuse may also breach the student’s privacy, and may create a risk of physical and psychological harm to the student. It is strongly suggested that teachers privately ask transgender or gender nonconforming students at the beginning of the school year how they want to be addressed in class, in correspondence to the home or at conferences with the student’s parents.
In cases where students and parents may be in disagreement about the name and pronoun to be used at school, school officials may refer families to appropriate outside counseling services.
Transgender students have the right to be addressed by a name and pronouns that correspond to their sincerely held gender identities. If requested by the students, staff should address them by the name and pronouns that correspond to each of their sincerely held gender identities. Transgender students are not required to obtain a legal name or gender change or to change their official records. This does not prohibit inadvertent slips or honest mistakes, but does apply to intentional or persistent refusal to respect a student’s gender identity, which should be considered an act of discrimination.
Teachers and other school staff should be informed of the student’s preferred name on student rosters and of the preferred pronouns to use when addressing the student. When the DOE’s student information system (e.g., SIS) accommodates a “preferred name,” the student’s preferred name should be noted. Teachers and other school staff should take care to ensure that a transgender student’s legal name, if different from the student’s preferred name, is kept confidential.
The preference for the use of masculine, feminine or gender-neutral pronouns should be the choice of the student. A legal name change is not required for a student to use the preferred name for class lists, student activities, yearbook publications, etc. However, a student’s legal name must be indicated in the student’s official records. The district may list the student’s preferred name in the official records by listing it next to the student’s legal name with asterisks next to it until a legal name change is made.
If a student so chooses, the educational institution’s employees should be required to address the student by the student’s chosen name and use pronouns consistent with the student’s gender identity. The educational institution should also, at the request of any student, instruct its students to address the student by the student’s chosen name and use pronouns consistent with the student’s gender identity. Inadvertent slips and honest mistakes will not be considered a violation of the Act, but a pattern of refusal to acknowledge a student’s gender identity by using their chosen name and pronouns may be considered to constitute such a violation.
Address every student by a name and pronoun that corresponds to the student’s gender identity. Privately ask students how they want to be addressed in class and whether this will be different when in correspondence to the home or at conferences with the student’s parents or guardians. Train all teachers, staff, and school administrators to use the student’s preferred name, pronouns and gender. Use the student’s preferred name for classroom rosters, identification badges, announcements, certificates, newspapers, newsletters, yearbooks and any other record where the use of the legal name is not specifically required by law.
The issue of the name and pronoun to use in referring to a transgender student is one of the first that schools must resolve to create an environment in which that student feels safe and supported. Transgender students often choose to change the name assigned to them at birth to a name that is associated with their gender identity. As with most other issues involved with creating a safe and supportive environment for transgender students, the best course is to engage the student, and in the case of a younger student, the parent, with respect to name and pronoun use, and agree on a plan to initiate that name and pronoun use within the school. The plan also could include when and how this is communicated to students and their parents. In the case of a transgender student who is enrolling at a new school, it is important that the school respect the student’s privacy (see the following section) and chosen name
In sum, school personnel should use the student’s chosen name and pronouns appropriate to a student’s gender identity, regardless of the student’s assigned birth sex. For those students who have been attending a school and undergo gender transition while attending the same school, it is important to develop a plan for initiating use of the chosen name and pronouns consistent with the student’s gender identity.
When requested by the parent/guardian and/or student, school staff should engage in reasonable and good faith efforts to address students by their chosen name and pronouns that correspond to their gender identity, regardless of whether there has been a legal name change. Upon request, the chosen name and gender should be included in the district’s information management systems, in addition to the student’s legal name. District-generated student email addresses should also reflect the student’s chosen name, if first names are identifiable in such addresses. These changes inform all staff, including substitute teachers, of the name and pronoun to use when addressing the student, and help avoid inadvertent disclosures.
Schools should not assume a student’s name or pronoun. School officials should ask the student and use the requested name and pronouns. Students need not provide schools with legal documents to correct their first name or gender within their student records. When students are referred to by the wrong pronoun by peers or school staff, students may feel intimidated, threatened, harassed or bullied. School staff can ensure a more respectful environment for all students when efforts are made to correct the misuse of pronouns, as well as names, in student records.
Teachers can support inclusion of all students, including transgender and gender-nonconforming students, by embracing simple classroom practices that allow for all students to participate in accordance with their gender identity. Classroom practices that recognize and affirm all students, including transgender and gendernonconforming students, are varied and can include how the teacher addresses the classroom and how the teacher separates students into groups. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects the privacy of students. Schools should note that neither a student’s gender nor pronouns are considered public or directory information. Casual use of a student’s incorrect pronoun or incorrect name may violate FERPA. FERPA also permits families to elect not to disclose directory information about their student.
1. Because schools have multiple student record systems, schools should inventory all of their student record systems to ensure that they have implemented a systemic process that ensures that the names of students are consistently used as they wish to be identified. Schools should consider adding a customized data field for pronouns in their student record system. Schools should ensure that information for the student is properly recorded within the Minnesota Automated Reporting Student System (MARSS). If you have questions or need assistance with this, contact Minnesota Department of Education staff, (marss@state.mn.us).
2. A school administrator or designee should meet with the student and family to discuss how the student’s name and gender will be communicated to peers and the school community. School principals should consider periodically reminding all staff personnel to consistently use the requested name and pronouns of students.
3. Teachers could address students as “students” and “scholars” to be inclusive as opposed to “boys and girls.” You can learn more about what schools are doing to make transgender students comfortable in the Gender Spectrum et al., 2015, Schools in Transition – A Guide for Supporting Transgender Students in K-12 Schools.
The matter of determining which name and pronoun to use in referring to a transgender student may be one of the first that schools must address in their efforts to create an environment in which that student feels safe and supported. Transgender students often choose to change the name assigned to them at birth to a name that is associated with their gender identity. As with most other issues involved with creating a safe and supportive environment for transgender students, the best course is to engage the student, and possibly the parent, with respect to name and pronoun use, and agree on a plan to reflect the individual needs of each student to initiate that name and pronoun use within the school. The plan also could include when and how this is communicated to students and their parents.
For those students who have been attending a school and undergo gender transition while attending the same school, it is important to develop a plan for initiating use of the chosen name and pronouns consistent with the student’s gender identity.
Transgender students often choose to change the name assigned to them at birth to a name that affirms their gender identity. As with most other issues involved with creating a safe and supportive environment for transgender students, the best course is to engage the student, and possibly the parents, with respect to name and pronoun use. The school district should decide with the student and parents the best plan to reflect the individual student’s needs when initiating name and pronoun use.
There are no state laws which either require or prescribe requirements for school district issued student IDs. However, if your school district has chosen to issue student IDs, it is recommended that student IDs be issued in the name reflecting the student’s gender identity consistently asserted at school. This may require issuing the student a new ID card. For those students who have been attending a school and undergo gender transition while attending the same school, school districts in consultation with the student and parents should develop a plan for initiating use of the chosen name and pronouns consistent with the student’s gender identity.
Transgender students often choose to change the name assigned to them at birth to a name that is associated with their gender identity. If the student has changed their name though legal means, then official school records can reflect the change. However, if the student requests to be addressed by another name without evidence of a legal name change, this is referred to as their preferred name. The school, student and family (if they are involved) should be engaged and develop a plan for using the preferred name and pronoun within the school. The plan could include when and how this is communicated to staff, to students and the parents of other students. In the case of a transgender student who is enrolling at a new school, it is important that the school respect the student’s privacy and preferred name. In the case of a preferred name change, the official record in the school is not changed but the preferred name will be noted therein.
Students should be addressed by school staff by the name and pronoun corresponding to their gender identity. Students are not required to obtain a court ordered name and/or gender change or to change their pupil personnel records as a prerequisite to being addressed by the name and pronoun that corresponds to their gender identity. To the extent possible and consistent with these guidelines, school personnel should make efforts to maintain the confidentiality of the student’s transgender status. For those students who undergo gender transition while attending the same school, it is important to develop a plan for initiating use of the preferred name and pronouns consistent with the student’s gender identity. The plan can also include when and how this is communicated to students and their parents, staff and other individuals within the school community (i.e., substitute teachers, bus drivers, athletic coaches, etc.)
Within the school or school district when a transgender or gender nonconforming student new to a school is using a chosen/preferred name and gender identity, their birth name and assigned sex should be kept confidential by school and district staff. If a student has previously been known at school or in school records by his or her birth name, the school administrator should direct school personnel to use the student’s chosen/preferred name and not the student’s birth name. To ensure consistency among teachers, school administrators, substitute teachers and other staff, every effort should be made to immediately update student education records (for
Best Practices for School Regarding Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students (Revised: February 23, 2017) Page 5 of 9 example, attendance records, report cards, Individualized Education Programs, etc.) with the student’s chosen/preferred name and appropriate gender markers and not circulate records with the student’s birth name and assigned sex. Student IDs should be issued in the name that reflects a student’s gender identity.
Students have the right to be addressed by their preferred name and personal pronouns—he and him, or she and her—while at school. Schools should not require a legal name change for staff to use the student’s preferred name during class, on seating charts, during roll call, on tests and assignments, and on other school records.
Students have the right to be addressed by the name and pronoun that correspond to the student’s gender identity. A court-‐ordered name or gender change is not required, and the student does not need to change their official records.
Generally, if a student wishes for their name to be changed at school, despite whether or not a student has brought in a legal name change, all unofficial records should reflect their preferred name. Examples of unofficial school documents include yearbooks, team and class rosters, and newspapers/newsletters.