This bill would require all Wisconsin school boards to adopt policies regarding a student’s legal name and pronouns in official school records.
Specifically, the bill forces school boards to adopt a policy that would:
- Ban school staff from referring to a student under 18 by “a name or pronouns that do not align with the [student]’s biological sex without written authorization” from the student’s parent or guardian. (The only exception is for a shortened version of the student’s legal first or middle name.)
- Ban school administrators from changing a student’s legal name or pronouns in school records unless the student’s parent or guardian submits a request providing documentation of a legal name change.
- Require notice of a name or pronoun change request to be provided to “each of the [student]’s parents and legal guardians who have a right to access the [student’s] official school records” and require a school administrator to deny a request unless all parents/guardians support it.
- Create a procedure for parents/guardians or students to appeal a school administrator’s denial of a request to change the student’s name or pronouns to the school board.
Schools should do everything they can to make sure all youth, including transgender youth, feel loved and accepted, and politicians should not be making it harder for them to do so.
Every student deserves the freedom to be themselves in school.
