Edison Board of Education abolishes Policy 5756

By Alvin Wu
Domestic Affairs
Edison Board of Education abolishes Policy 5756

Board president Jerry Shi reads a prepared statement on Policy 5756 before public comment begins. EDISON BOARD OF EDUCATION/Livestream

EDISON, N.J., May 26 (ZFJ) — The Edison Board of Education abolished Policy 5756, the transgender students policy, during a marathon action meeting on Tuesday, May 20.

Policy 5756 was issued by the N.J. Department of Education as guidance to local school districts. It directs schools to accept a student’s asserted gender identity and, controversially, eliminates an “affirmative duty” (in other words, an obligation) for staff members to notify parents of the student’s new gender identity.

　

The first reading of the policy’s abolition was held on Thursday, May 15. The board previously moved to abolish the policy without declaring the action on the public agenda on Sept. 30, 2024. The board then reversed course on Oct. 29, 2024, but board members Brian Rivera and Douglas Schneider, both of whom voted against abolition, lost the Nov. 8 election by a substantial margin and did not return to the board this year.

By abolishing Policy 5756, numerous board members are fulfilling a key campaign promise to “uphold parental rights.” The board did not replace the policy with any alternative policy.

PUBLIC COMMENT ON POLICIES

The May 20 meeting lasted until about 1:00 a.m., with about 3.5 hours of public comment.

Board president Jerry Shi prefaced public comment with a statement asserting that repealing Policy 5756 would not require school staff to inform parents about a student’s new gender identity but instead allow “educators flexibility to handle each situation thoughtfully on a case-by-case basis.”

“In either case, repealing the policy puts decision making back in the hands of educators who are closest to students and are best positioned to protect and support them, not to harm them,” he said, additionally highlighting other policies and state laws that he said still provide “the same legal and policy protections” to transgender students.

Residents of Edison, Metuchen, and numerous other Central Jersey towns attended the meeting.

Many people spoke in favor of Policy 5756, including members of the LGBTQ community, parents of transgender students, educators, and health professionals.

Proponents of the policy argued that it provides necessary privacy for trans students to come out when they are ready and avoid potential abuse from parents. They pointed to repeated research that associates these kinds of policies with decreased suicide rates and expressed concerns over the continued safety of trans students in Edison schools, saying that other policies and state law are insufficient.

“Sometimes you just need to give people space,” said Chamomile Silva, a transgender student at J.P. Stevens High School. “If your child trusts you, they will eventually come out, as I did with my family. Forcing that prematurely only strains relationships. If I was outed before I was ready, my relationship with my family wouldn’t get better. I would resent them for this lack of privacy and feel utterly exposed. Teenagers have secrets. This is a fact we have to learn to live with, because trying to pry them open with a crowbar isn’t a good way to build trust.”

“This bill doesn’t sever connections between families. It protects them. But all of this assumes you have a good set of parents, ones who will love you unconditionally, be with you through thick and thin. If somebody has abusive parents though, abolishing this could ruin lives. Sure, some teachers might not tell, it’s up to the teacher and the person. We don’t know for sure,” she said, concluding her statement by saying that she knows two people who could be physically abused as a result of abolishing the policy.

Other proponents of the policy said that repealing the policy without any replacement leaves school staff without clear guidance on transgender students.

“5756 would provide guidance for teachers to help teachers,” said Amy Bertelsen-Robles, an Edison resident and retired school counselor. “I worked in public school for over 30 years and worked with amazing professionals, but they needed to be trained and guided, and then part of that guidance means who do you consult with if you’re not sure about what to do. That’s the best way to support our kids.”

Brian Rivera said that Edison High School principal Charles Ross told him “to stay far away from this” and “do not engage in this policy” during Rivera’s last conversation with him as a board member. Rivera questioned the transparency of the board’s proceedings related to Policy 5756.

Numerous people spoke against Policy 5756, such as parents and former educators.

Critics raised a variety of concerns. Some said that there are only two genders and that staff were forced to compromise their religious beliefs by accepting a student’s asserted gender identity.

“There are only two genders: male and female. God tells us so,” said Anthony Mara, an Edison resident. “He says in the holy scriptures, have you not read, that he created them from the beginning, made them male and female?”

“This policy burdens teachers have to choose between faith, morals, and their employment,” said Kim Lily, a Manalapan resident and former special education teacher. She highlighted cases in the South and Midwest where teachers won lawsuits after being fired or suspended for refusing to recognize asserted gender identities.

Others expressed concerns that children were being indoctrinated with “gender ideology,” asserted that children lack the intellectual capacity to decide whether or not to transition, and questioned whether or not parents were comfortable with boys in girls’ bathrooms and sports. Some people expressed worry that children could eventually be deceived into taking puberty blockers and receiving hormone replacement therapy.

“We are sexualizing our children at an age when they are not intellectually or emotionally ready, and we wonder why kids are depressed and have anxiety,” said Jennifer Woodruff, a former Edison and current Marlboro resident.

“If Policy 5756 is not abolished, it can subject many of our children to exploitation, predatory action by maybe a few people in that group,” said an Edison resident who only gave his name as David. “For example, if a people who is providing this kind of transgender service and if they want more patients to earn more money, they can manipulate the young children to make the wrong decision because their parents is in the dark.”

A key point advanced by many critics is that parents are ultimately responsible for the welfare of their children and should not face interference from the government.

“If it is true that a transgender child is more apt to commit suicide, why would we keep this from the child’s parents, who care about their welfare more than anyone and who are ultimately responsible for the child?” asked Woodruff.

“Regarding 5756, it is not guidance. It is a license to lie to a parent,” said Reverend Gregory Quinlan, self-described as “ex-gay,” of Parsippany. “5756 is a directive to keep secrets from a parent. It violates due process, the 14th Amendment. This is why many parents are suing school boards now, because it denies their rights as parents.”

“But even if there’s a parent that doesn’t like the decision their child is making, that parent should know, and the school should be there when the child breaks it to their parent so that they can control the situation, and I’ve seen that happen with other reasons, and what do parents do? They may not like what they are hearing, but they start to get involved with their child, to understand their child’s behavior. That’s how it should be done.”

BOARD MEMBER COMMENT ON POLICIES

Joseph Romano was the only board member to speak during board member comment on policies. He announced his no vote, saying that the public has spoken on the policy and that his job is to protect children. He noted the separation of church and state in public education.

“Our people are talking, and, there’s a separation of church and state. You see, that’s one of the big issues now. If you wanna come here, and you wanna talk, to public education, you understand? Public education. There’s a separation of church and state. I believe in that. Now, when you come here and talk about church or you talk about God, it has nothing to do with the Board of Ed.”

ROLL CALL - MOTION TO APPROVE ALL POLICIES

YESNO
Ralph ErricoChristopher Lugo
Ronak PatelJoseph Romano
Anjana PatelVirginia White (Policy 5756 only)
Virginia White (excluding Policy 5756)Ralph Errico
Shannon Peng
Vishal Patel
Jerry Shi

Shi clarified that Lugo and Romano were voting no to all policies set forth in the agenda. White said that her position on Policy 5756 remains the same.

The motion carried. All policies were approved, and Policy 5756 was abolished 6-3.

BOARD MEMBER COMMENT

Some board members made additional comments on Policy 5756 during open comment at the end of the meeting.

Ronak Patel said that he voted to repeal Policy 5756 because he “made a promise to uphold parental rights, and I believe parent deserve to be active informed partners in their children’s life.”

“Repealing this policy means that parents will affirmatively continue to be able to freely speak with our staff about the children within the framework and the procedure established by the district administration.”

Vishal Patel said that he had three reasons to abolish the policy: it creates confusion, he believes parents are the best people to guide students (interrupted by Romano, who shouted “you don’t speak for me”), and that remaining policies are sufficient to protect trans students.

Romano gave an additional statement before walking out of the remainder of the meeting.

“My job is to see that it runs well. It’s not to put my personal opinions. It’s to see that the board runs well. It means that the superintendent, the BA [business administrator], and all of the associates, they do their job well. It’s not my job to take and tell them what to do. Thank you for your time. I’m outta here.”

Errico responded to Romano, saying “sometimes we follow them [district administration], sometimes we don’t.”

“As an educator for 25 years, I will never, ever, not help a child, no matter what the situation is,” he said, calling it “hogwash” to think teachers will not always help students.

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