Major Settlement Protects the Rights of South Carolina Trans Student

In one of the first tests of the guidelines around transgender students released by the Department of Education on May 13, the rights of a trans student have been upheld.

On Tuesday, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced a settlement with the Dorchester County School District Two in South Carolina. A resolution letter released by OCR says that the school district discriminated against a transgender elementary school student when they required her to use segregated restrooms and denied her access to girls’ restrooms. Requiring her to use a separate facility from the other girls at school stigmatized her and made her vulnerable to harassment.

According to the agreement, the South Carolina school district will provide the student with equal access to the girls’ restroom at school. Also, if the student and her parents request it, the district will establish a support team to make sure that the student can participate in school life without discrimination. The district must also revise its policies to ensure that all students are given equal and respectful treatment at school, provide annual training to all administrators about preventing and addressing discrimination, and provide age-appropriate instruction to all students about discrimination against transgender people.

OCR will monitor the progress of Dorchester County School District Two as the district works to implement the commitments outlined in the agreement.

The National Center for Transgender Equality applauds the school district for doing the right thing with this agreement. Not only is it the law, but treating transgender students with dignity and respect also harms no one and benefits the whole community. That's the experience of thousands of school districts nationwide, and we are sure it will be the case here as well.