Achi news desk-
New Brunswick’s education minister says his threat to disband school districts that don’t adhere to the province’s policy change affecting LGBTQ students also extends to francophone school boards.
Bill Hogan was asked in the legislature on Wednesday why he moved to disband an anglophone school district that opposes the application of the new gender identity policy in its schools when he has not acted against French school districts that also oppose the policy.
The 2023 changes to Policy 713 require students under the age of 16 who are exploring their gender identity to obtain parental consent for teachers to use their preferred pronouns or first name in school, which reversed’ the original policy.
The Anglophone East School District is asking a court to stop the government from forcing it to apply the revised policy, saying in a preliminary motion filed in April that it violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms as well as the Bill of Rights Human and Education Act of the province. .
The school district, which oversees schools in the Moncton area, says in the filing that it has chosen to adopt its own guidelines, instructing staff to use students’ preferred names and pronouns regardless of age.
Soon after, he said, Hogan directed school officials to comply with the government’s changes and threatened to disband any school districts that did not adhere to the policy.
Hogan says that if francophone school districts fail to uphold the provincial directive, then he will use the powers available to him for each district.
This report was first published by The Canadian Press on May 9, 2024.
