Internal documents obtained by The Epoch Times provide a look at how Ontario school boards are directing school administrators on the issue.
The Thames Valley District School Board, which serves London and other cities, has implemented a system dubbed MyName that allows students to choose preferred names that appear in the school’s various virtual systems, such as Google Classroom or the school’s library system. A Jan. 18, 2023, school board memo obtained by The Epoch Times tells administrators not to include the same name in the Student Information System (SIS) without getting the approval of the student, since the names on the SIS could be reflected in portals accessible by parents.
“Students may request a MyName change for several reasons, the most common being that not all students are ‘out’ to their parents, guardians or caregivers and are not ready or comfortable to add a Preferred Name to the SIS,” reads the memo.
Although the policy has been in effect for several years, its continuation is more significant in light of both the education minister and the premier commenting on the importance of upholding parental rights. The Epoch Times contacted the school board but no one was available to comment.
Premier Doug Ford made similar comments last year.
“Most important is the parents’ rights—the parents’ rights to listen and make sure they are informed when their children make a decision,” Mr. Ford said on Sept. 8, 2023. “It’s not up to the teachers, it’s not up to the school board, to indoctrinate our kids.”
Despite these public statements, the Progressive Conservative government has not introduced legislation to enshrine the requirement in law the way Alberta, Saskatchewan, and New Brunswick have.
The Epoch Times contacted the education ministry to ask whether it was aware of the Thames board policy, but didn’t hear back by publication time.
According to documents seen by The Epoch Times, the school board says books checked out from the school library may bear the student’s preferred name and that students should be made aware and “provided with the choice as to whether this information is shared with parents, guardians or caregivers.”
“Students should also have the choice as to whether a separate form can be created with the name they prefer to share with parents, guardians, caregivers,” the memo says.
In another school board document seen by The Epoch Times, a 2018 PowerPoint presentation for administrators says preferred names and pronouns may be used in report card comments but only after consulting students. “Not all students use the same name / pronouns at home as at school,” the document says.
“There is no age limit on making an accommodation request,” the document says. “All students (elementary and secondary) have a right to an accommodation with or without guardian knowledge or consent.”
It adds that when contacting a student’s home, “school staff should first consult the student to determine an appropriate way to reference the student’s gender.”
The presentation says that school board policy allows students to play on organized sports teams that best align with their gender identity “regardless of their assigned sex at birth.”
Students also have the right to enter a washroom that corresponds to their gender identity, the document says, regardless of their “sex at birth or gender expression.”
When possible, schools will provide single-stall, all-gender washrooms if students require extra privacy, the document adds.
The issue of gender identity and parental rights has become more contentious as many parents and groups clash with school administrators over school policies on gender.
