In a recent development at St. Marys City Schools in rural Ohio, a training program that instructed new teachers to familiarize themselves with various gender identity terms, including “pansexual,” “nonbinary,” and “transgender,” and encouraged non-disclosure of students’ sexual orientations to parents, has been retracted following scrutiny. This training, which was revealed by The Daily Wire, sparked controversy for its content and approach.
The training required teachers to correctly identify terms related to gender identity and sexual orientation, implying repercussions for non-compliance. One of the contentious points was the directive for teachers to keep information about a student’s sexual orientation confidential, even from the student’s parents.
After The Daily Wire raised concerns about the content of this training, Bill Ruane, the superintendent of St. Marys City Schools, acknowledged that the program was not in line with the district’s values. He stated that the training was inadvertently included as part of a new state-mandated bullying training module from a different provider, Public School Works. The module, which was intended to focus on bullying, erroneously included material on gender ideology.
Ruane emphasized that the district has historically upheld parental rights in education and supported legislation that upholds traditional gender norms in sports and bathrooms. He assured that the district, typically conservative in its educational approach, does not endorse the ideologies presented in the training.
The module from Public School Works, now discarded, advised teachers on handling matters related to students’ sexual orientations and gender identities, including the use of preferred pronouns and names. It also presented definitions of terms like homophobia and heterosexism, along with perspectives on gender as a social construct rather than a biological distinction.
The incident at St. Marys City Schools highlights the complexities and sensitivities involved in educational content related to gender and sexual orientation. It also underscores the need for careful vetting of training materials to align with the values and policies of educational institutions and the communities they serve.