Published on December 5, 2023, 12:44 am

In a recent incident that brings into focus the ethical dilemmas faced by public schools surrounding policies related to transgender students, an 11-year-old girl was seemingly assigned to share a bed with a male student who identifies as a transgender girl during a school trip. The event has sparked multiple questions and concerns, causing the parents of the girl to press for answers and clarification from their school system.

These concerned parents, Joe and Serena Wailes, have engaged legal representation from the Alliance Defending Freedom and are calling on the Jefferson County School Board in Colorado together with its Superintendent, Tracy Dorland, to unravel whether policies that consciously withhold information about rooming accommodations from parents who object will continue.

As laid out in their demand letter, it appears that this practice makes it impossible for parents like them to make informed decisions about their children’s privacy, upbringing, and participation in school-sponsored programs. They also stress information regarding potential opt-outs from these rooming arrangements for future school trips is needed.

In June 2023, the Wailes’ fifth-grade daughter participated in a Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) sponsored cross-country trip to Philadelphia and Washington D.C. Parents were reassured that boys would be separated from girls during accommodation – boys wouldn’t even be allowed on the girls’ floor of the hotel they were staying at according to verbal confirmation received by chaperones. Despite this assurance, their daughter ended up being assigned to share her bed with another student who identified as a female but was biologically male.

The unsuspecting 11-year-old found herself sharing accommodations with three other students: two girls from her own school and one other student belonging to another school who self-identified as female but was biologically male. When K.E.M (the boy who identified as a girl) revealed his biological gender privately inside their shared room, D.W., already uncomfortably sharing her space with him due to suspicions prior to his revelation, was driven to alert her mother who was also there for the trip but not in a chaperoning role.

D.W’s parents expressed their frustration and dismay at this situation, highlighting not only the distress experienced by their daughter but also the break in trust from the school’s inability to foresee or efficiently handle such a potentially sensitive scenario. The father described his feelings of helplessness while being 2,000 miles away and hearing of his daughter hiding in her hotel’s restroom, trying to escape an uncomfortable encounter back in her room.

Even after D.W.’s ordeal became known, school officials were hesitant to move K.E.M into a different room citing concerns for K.E.M.’s privacy and possible humiliation. That said, they eventually yielded, albeit with more focus on preserving K.E.M.’s feelings than satisfying D.W’s need for comfort or respecting the Wailes’ parental rights.

According to the demand letter sent by Joe and Serena Wailes, it is reportedly common practice within this school district to place students with roommate(s) according to gender identities rather than biological genders. Following this incident, they have now called upon the district to outline its policies clearly regarding student accommodation during field trips along with available choices parents should have regarding opting out of such arrangements.

The respected director at Alliance Defending Freedom concurred with these demands reiterating that every parent should know about such potential situations beforehand so that they can make informed decisions that best serve their children. Echoing sentiments shared widely among proponents of trusted news outlets focusing on delivering real news rooted in Christian worldview values – transparency in issues concerning child welfare remains paramount.