Huntley school board declines to act on ban on gender-affirming care proposed by local GOP

The Huntley Community School District 158 board discussed – but did not move forward on – a request from the local Republican Party to effectively ban school officials from providing or counseling about gender-affirming care in the schools.

The Grafton Township GOP had asked the school board to enact a policy requiring written consent from parents for a school staff member to provide a minor with any non-emergency medical care while on school property, specifying “any gender modification procedure, gender identification counseling or gender therapy.”

The proposal mirrors a larger effort from several socially conservative groups to get a similarly worded initiative on Illinois ballots next year.

The Parents Matter Coalition – which consists of groups including Illinois Right to Life, Illinois Family Institute and Illinois Moms for America among others, according to its website – is trying to get a statewide referendum on next November’s ballot asking if such policies should be enacted in schools. The groups’ proposed language mirrors that suggested in District 158.

A spokeswoman for the Parents Matter Coalition said the group as a whole is focused on the ballot initiative and she was unaware of any involvement of the coalition in the Grafton Township proposal.

During public comment at Thursday’s District 158 meeting, a community member spoke out against the proposal and told the board to “focus on supporting all of the students.”

Later on in the meeting, board President Andy Bittman addressed the comment and the proposal while discussing proposed policy changes.

Bittman said during the meeting that he was “certainly not” planning to bring up the resolution; however, the board still discussed it.

Bittman said he felt the district’s current policy covered all the concerns brought forth by the proposal. A review of the district’s policies online shows parents and guardians must already give written permission for a student to take any or be administered any medication at school.

Board member Michael Thompson, who is a Grafton Township GOP committeeperson and who previously expressed his support for the proposal, reiterated his stance in the meeting that parents should be “first authority in all treatment of their children,” specifically mentioning medical and psychological treatment.