Despite a pending lawsuit in federal court, the state Board of Education on Thursday made permanent a rule change that would prohibit school districts and local schools from altering sex or gender designations in past student records without the board’s authorization.
With only four members present for a regular monthly meeting — barely enough for a quorum on what’s currently a six-person board — the proposal passed 4-0. The board approved a similar temporary rule on Sept. 28 and a public hearing was held on Dec. 18. The board had been scheduled to vote three days after that hearing to make the rules permanent, but instead deferred action to this month.
Also on Dec. 21, board members — including state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters — were served with a lawsuit filed by the Oklahoma Equality Law Center and the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice on behalf of a Moore Public Schools student — referred to in the lawsuit as “J. Doe” — whose request to change their pronouns in school records was unanimously denied by the board during its October meeting.