Another rally against an Elizabethtown Area school board directive failed to persuade members, who — bucking the demonstrators’ wishes — cast two 8-1 votes Tuesday night approving gender-related policies recommended by religious rights law firm Independence Law Center.
One policy limits student athlete participation to teams aligning with their sex assigned at birth; the other requires parent permission for name or pronoun changes to students under the age of 18.
The policies won’t be implemented until March 1 to give administration time to prepare staff for changes the policies would bring and for families with children already using a name different than their legal name to fill out necessary forms.
Board member James Read, who cast the sole dissenting vote, said his decision was informed by discussions with both district administrators and the board’s two student representatives.
“They all tell me that these policies are not necessary in this district,” Read said. “I would choose to side with the professionals who work here and the students who are in the trenches who know this district better than the ILC.”
Anticipating an approval of the policies, district parent Kristy Moore, who helped organize the rally that drew nearly 80 attendees, said she isn’t deterred that the board wasn’t swayed; she said the rally was also meant to show support to marginalized members of the community.
The school board members “consistently make decisions that don't reflect what we think the community as a whole really wants,” Moore said. They continue to push through their own agenda. And we're just not going to give up. We're going to keep showing up.”
Protesters rally against Elizabethtown school board vote on Independence Law Center policies [photos]
Dakoda Kraenbring, of Rapho Township, left, and his mother Naomi stand with protesters as they rally outside Elizabethtown Area High School before the school board meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025.
Policies recommended by Independence Law Center
Both policies passed Tuesday night were introduced by the all-Republican board in November. The board voted 8-1 in June to add the Independence Law Center as special counsel for the district.
With the board’s approval, Elizabethtown Area School District will be the second in the county to implement a policy requiring students to submit a form, with a parent or guardian signature, to change their name and pronouns. The policy also dictates that staff may not call a student by an unwanted name or pronoun if the proper forms are submitted.
The district also is the third in the county to implement a policy limiting student athletes to participate on a sports team aligning with their sex assigned at birth.
Very little in the policies has changed over the course of board and community discussions that have taken place since November. One change, however, clarifies accommodations for staff wishing not to address a student by their new name or pronouns.
While staff may not address a student by an unwanted name or pronoun, they’re advised to use neutral names, such as last names, to address all students in the class. Previously, the policy advised that personnel mix the practice between students to avoid singling out one with a name change.
The aspect of simultaneously allowing a student to change their name and pronouns while permitting staff not to recognize that change was a critique by the Penn Manor school board President Joseph Fullerton when that board passed a nearly identical policy in October.
‘You don’t seem to be listening’
Thirty of the 80 meeting attendees addressed the board through nearly two hours of public comment Tuesday night, but only three spoke in favor of the policies eventually passed.
Doug Lamb, the pastor of Lifegate Church, was one of the three in favor and apologized to the board, saying that many residents were supportive of the board but haven’t spoken up.
"It's tough — it really is tough, and I feel bad that you don't get the support,” Lamb said. "The number willing to stand up and give their opinion is few and far between."
Despite claims by several residents who pleaded with the board not to pass the policies, saying the board’s actions were not in the interest of students and would actively harm them, Lamb said he knows the board cares about the district’s students.
Many more who spoke Tuesday night said they felt the board hadn't been listening to those in the community outspoken against the policies.
“You don’t seem to be listening to us,” Elizabethtown Area High School sophomore Victor Eisenhower said.
Both of the board’s student representatives, informed by a poll of their peers, spoke out against the policies at the board’s November meeting.
“Please stop speaking for (the students)” parent Rachel Rank said Tuesday. “My daughters think these policies are ridiculous and do not want them.”
‘Real and urgent issues are being ignored’
Residents, parents and students alike who spoke Tuesday night voiced concern that LGBTQ+ students, particularly those who are transgender, would be negatively impacted by the policies.
"Why are you so afraid of me,” asked Elizabethtown Area High School student Keira Deeds, who identified as nonbinary. “I'm an awkward 14-year-old, but you want to condemn me like I have the plague. … You'd rather fixate on genitals than the building that is literally crumbling around you."
To Deeds’ point, more than half the speakers at Tuesday night’s meeting urged the board to — rather than focus on passing policies at the recommendation of the Independence Law Center — turn their attention to another hot topic, the proposed renovation to the high school building.
"These ILC policies are a discriminatory, anti-trans measure that does nothing to protect students and teachers. Instead they actively harm them,” said Alisha Runkle, a parent of two in the district. "Real and urgent issues are being ignored. … This board is not focused on helping kids. It's focused on furthering a political agenda at any cost."
Runkle and a few others were already resigned to Tuesday’s outcome, assuming correctly that the board would pass the policies despite their pleas during public comment.
Before voting, board President Stephen Lindemuth responded to concerns that the board wasn’t listening or focusing on other district needs.
"We can walk and chew gum at the same time — we're not solely focused on these policies,” Lindemuth said. “We do listen to your needs. … We’re trying to do our best.”
Want the top headlines sent to your inbox first thing each morning? Sign up for our free daily A.M. newsletter here.
