KDE Need to Know- 5 Most Important Things

1. KDE Need to Know- 5 Most Important Things Kevin C. Brown Lisa K. Lang David Wickersham Amy Peabody Chase Bannister Kentucky Department of Education

2. Today’s topics • Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act • Transgender law and etiquette • SB 200 (2014) Juvenile Justice bill • Testing allegations and investigations overview • New policies and procedures for state-operated ATCs

3. Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act • Requires that USDA establish nutrition standards for all foods and beverages sold in school. • Applies to all foods sold: • Outside the school meal programs; • A la carte in the cafeteria • In school stores • Snack bars • Vending machines • Other venues • On the school campus; and • At any time during the school day

4. Definitions • School campus: all areas of the property under the jurisdiction of the school that are accessible to students during the school day.

5. School Day

6. Fundraiser Exemptions There will be no exemptions given for fundraisers. No foods or beverages may be sold on the school campus during the school day that do not meet the new standards.

7. Fundraisers All foods that meet the regulatory standards may be sold on the school campus from 30 minutes after lunch until 30 minutes after the school day. The standards would not apply to items sold during non-school hours, weekends, or off-campus fundraising events.

8. Transgender 101 • Transgender students and staff (gender identity, not sexual orientation) • Learn the law. • Learn the etiquette. • Remember the basics: if the question or comment is one you would not make regardless of the gender identity of the person/student, then it is one you don’t make for any person/student.

9. Transgender basics • A whole new vocabulary: terms and definitions - GENDER IDENTITY: A person’s deeply held sense or psychological knowledge of their own gender. One’s gender identity can be the same or different than the gender assigned at birth. Most people have a gender identity that matches their assigned gender at birth. For some, however, their gender identity is different from their assigned gender. All people have a gender identity, not just transgender people. Gender identity is an innate, largely inflexible characteristic of each individual’s personality that is generally established by age four, although the age at which individuals come to understand and express their gender identity may vary based on each person’s social and familial social development. Gender identity is DIFFERENT FROM sexual orientation. - GENDER EXPRESSION: The manner in which a person represents or expresses gender to others, often through behavior, clothing, hairstyles, activities, voice or mannerisms. - TRANSGENDER: An adjective describing a person whose gender identity or expression is different from that traditionally associated with an assigned sex at birth. Other terms that can have similar meanings are transsexual (a little different meaning, more narrow category of transgendered persons) and trans. - TRANSITION: The process (and period of time) in which a person goes from living and identifying as one gender to living and identifying as another. - GENDER NONCONFORMING: A term for people whose gender expression differs from stereotypical expectations, such as “feminine” boys, “masculine” girls, and those who are perceived as androgynous. This includes people who identify outside traditional gender categories or identify as both genders. Other terms that can have similar meanings include gender diverse or gender expansive.

10. Transgender legal protections • U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and U.S. Department of Justice work together on these issues and complaint resolution. • Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000c - 2000c-9) and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681) provide protection from sex-based harassment, including harassment or discrimination based on nonconformity with gender stereotypes and sexual harassment. • Transgender students have the right to use the restrooms and locker rooms of their identified gender. http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2013/July/13-crt-838.html • http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/investigations/05115901.html • http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/investigations/09111031.html • http://www.nclrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Arcadia_Resolution_agreement_07.24.2013.pdf

11. Transgender etiquette • What do I call you? - Transgender and gender nonconforming youth use a number of words to describe their lives and gendered experiences. To list just a few examples, these students may refer to themselves as trans, transsexual, transgender, male-to-female (MTF), female-to-male (FTM), bi-gender, two-spirit, trans man, trans woman, and a variety of other terms. Terminology and language describing transgender individuals can differ based on region, language, race or ethnicity, age, culture, and many other factors. Generally speaking, school staff and educators should inquire which terms students may prefer and avoid terms that make these students uncomfortable; a good general guideline is to employ those terms which the students use to describe themselves. “Transgender” is an adjective, not a noun so it is more appropriate to say “transgender person” instead of “transgender”.

12. Transgender etiquette • What pronoun do I use? - Pronouns for the identified gender. • What questions can I ask? - The questions you would ask of any person regardless of gender identity. • What information can I share with others, including other students’ parents? - Only the information you can provide regarding any person/student regardless of transgender. FERPA restrictions apply.

13. Transgender etiquette • What should I require as proof that the student is not just kidding around? - Accept the student’s assertion of his/her gender identity and not require particular substantiating evidence. However, if district personnel have a credible basis for believing that a student’s gender-related identity is being asserted for an improper purpose, this basis should be documented and a written response should be provided to the student and, if appropriate, his/her parents or guardians. May want to ask the student if you can discuss with parent/guardian and seek conversation with parent/guardian to ensure protection and accommodation of student’s gender identity and practical issues (e.g., bathroom and locker room usage, student’s preferred name and any name change, student’s needs during transition to identified gender). • What if I personally have a problem with this? - Just like any issue you personally disagree regarding (e.g., religion, sports, politics), we are all professionals and expected to give others the upmost respect and courtesy.

14. Transgender • Why does this matter? - Legal liability of school district for violation of law. • The National Transgender Discrimination Survey illustrates the alarming extent of the problem: 78% of respondents who were out as trans while in K-12 school indicated that they had been harassed on the basis of their gender identity, with over one-third (35%) reporting that the harassment escalated to physical assault. The abuse could be so severe that it resulted in almost one-sixth (15%) leaving school to escape. Those who are able to persevere had significantly lower GPAs, were more likely to miss school out of concern for their safety, and were less likely to plan on continuing their education, according to data from GLSEN2. Perhaps most alarmingly, 51% of NCTE survey respondents who had been bullied reported attempting suicide. • All students deserve our protection and our concern. As stated by the USDOJ and USED OCR, all students have the right to go to school without fearing harassment or discrimination on the basis of their sex, including because they do not conform to gender stereotypes. A school’s failure to address and prevent harassment can have tragic consequences. If students aren’t safe, then they aren’t learning.

15. Transgender policies • How should school districts handle protection of transgender and non-transgender students and their rights? - Revision of the policies NOW, the typical time for policy revision, is best. This provides the notice of the protection and rights of all students without drawing attention to schools’ handling of student transitions to an identified gender. This protects the privacy of the transgendered students while providing other students the notice of the possibility of transition and use of identified gender locker rooms and restrooms before the period of any student’s transition.

16. Transgender resources • National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) http://transequality.org/ • http://transequality.org/PDFs/Trans_ModelPolicy_2013.pdf • http://transequality.org/Resources/TransTerminology_2014.pdf • California School Boards Association Model Policy and Policy Brief on Transgender Students http://www.supportallstudents.org/new_model_policy

17. SB 200 (2014) • Senate Bill 200 (2014) is intended to: • Focus the most expensive resources on the most serious juvenile offenders; • Increase and strengthen evidence-based practices in local communities; and • Improve governmental performance

18. SB 200 (2014) • Kentucky has a student population of about 660,000 students, but less than 60,000 (9%) are involved in behavior incidents. 70% of those students are white, 23% black, and 4% Hispanic.

19. SB 200 (2014) • Of roughly 150,000 behavior incidents resulting in punishment, there were less than 3,000 calls to the police. This suggests that districts and schools are already exercising great discretion in involving the legal system. • Of roughly 3,000 calls to the police, there were less than 300 arrests. This suggests that the police are already exercising great discretion in involving the legal system beyond the initial contact with police.

20. SB 200 (2014) • Nationally, over 40% of public school teachers believe that student misbehavior significantly impacts their ability to instruct.

21. SB 200 (2014) • The Annie E. Casey Foundation reports that from 1995-2004, the national juvenile arrest rate for serious property and violent crime declined 45% and the homicide arrest rate plummeted 70%. This suggests a strong, positive, and sustained trend in juvenile arrest rates.

22. SB 200 (2014) • From 2009 to 2011, the number of Kentucky youth charged with status offenses droppedover 5%, from 9,696 to 9,173. This suggests the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in the filing of cases, and a positive trend. • In 2011, while habitual truancy, beyond control, and running away accounted for 93% of status charges, they accounted for only 23% of all juvenilecharges. This suggests that school-related offenses are not burgeoning. • The number of incarcerations for status offenses dropped41% since 1997. This suggests that there is not a trend of increasing incarceration. [from the Kentucky Youth Advocate reports of November 2010 and May 2012]

23. SB 200 (2014) • The average length of stay in a juvenile justice detention facility declined between 2009 and 2011. This suggests a positive trend. • Incarceration of youth for status offenses in Kentucky has been declining since 2007 and is at its lowest level since 2004. This suggests a positive and sustained trend. • Youth charged with status offenses are most often detained for contempt of court due to violating a valid court order. This suggests that juvenile detention is wholly beyond the control of the school districts. [from the Kentucky Youth Advocate reports of November 2010 and May 2012]

24. SB 200 (2014) • The Task Force determined that “a quarter of public offense referrals are from schools”. • This is consistent with the information from the Safe Schools Report showing that districts make court referrals rarely and, apparently, reluctantly. • The greatest increase in the amount of time offenders are placed out of home is for probation violators. This is consistent with the reports cited earlier.

25. SB 200 (2014) • The Annie E. Casey Foundation reports that “The decline in youth confinement has occurred in every region of the country.” • From 1997-2010, the rate, across the United States, dropped by 37% (by 34,263.) • Kentucky had a 21% drop (228.)

26. SB 200 (2014) • The United States Department of Education Office of Civil Rights reports that Kentucky has an out-of-school suspension rate for male students that is below the national average for American Indian/Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, Black/African American; Latino, and multi-ethnic students.

27. SB 200 (2014) • The United States Department of Education Office of Civil Rights reports that Kentucky has an out-of-school suspension rate for male students that is equal to the national average for Asian students, and one percentage point higher for white students than the national average.

28. SB 200 (2014) • The United States Department of Education Office of Civil Rights reports that Kentucky has an out-of-school suspension rate for female students that is equal to or better than the national average for all racial groups except multi-racial and white students, which are one percentage point higher than the national average.

29. SB 200 (2014) • The United States Department of Education Office of Civil Rights reports that Kentucky suspends fewer students out-of-school than the national average, and suspends fewer special education students than the national average.

30. SB 200 (2014) • The United States Department of Education Office of Civil Rights reports that Kentucky serves more special education students than the national average, and physically restrains those students at a rate nearly 20% below the national average.

31. SB 200 (2014) • Overview • Statistics show that Kentucky schools discipline rarely and compassionately, reserving discipline for only the most severe cases. • SB 200 complicates student discipline.

32. SB 200 (2014) • Overview • With significant procedural obstacles being instituted to traditional student discipline, local districts may begin to rely on the legal system to address dangerous and violent student behavior.

33. SB 200 (2014) • Overview • Kentucky may experience an increase in juvenile crime statistics, and costs, as options for districts are narrowed to a burdensome disciplinary process or a more prompt and efficient reliance on the criminal law system to address significant student misbehavior.

34. Testing allegations • Efforts Ramping up around the country • Georgia cheating scandal: 35 were indicted on charges of racketeering and corruption. • Pennsylvania: 5 teachers charged last month with “perpetuating a culture of cheating.” • Nevada placed 3 teachers on leave for cheating on standardized tests. • Since this scandal, testing allegations have increased in many parts of the country, including Kentucky. 

35. Erasure Analysis • KDE has teamed with NCS Pearson and Caveon Test Security to perform an Erasure analysis. • The report examines over half a million exams from all schools and districts. • Caveon looks for testing irregularities in many areas including, but not limited to: • Similarity among tests in a class/grade level • Wrong-To-Right erasures compared to Right-To-Wrong erasures • Difference in scores year to year • Difference in erasures year to year

36. Testing Regulations and Reporting • We received over 300 allegations last year. • Two regulations to reference: 703 KAR 5:080 and 703 KAR 5:070 • To report a testing allegation: • https://applications.education.ky.gov/login/

37. New Policies and Procedures for Area Technology Centers • Policies and procedures just passed through the Kentucky Board of Education. • New policies will be posted online very soon. • Regulations governing CTE are primarily found under Title 780 of the Kentucky Administrative Regulations. • Questions please contact Chase Bannister. (502)-564-4474