New Hanover County Board of Education’s Policy Committee continues discussion on transgender students in sports

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY)– The Policy Committee of the New Hanover County School Board met Monday to discuss Policy 3620 which reads in part, “A student participating in middle school athletics can participate on the team consistent with their gender identity”.     

“I’ll be very direct here. I was not in favor of the previous school board adopting this policy as is, and I brought some accountability issues when this proposed a change just as a parent. It is a frustrating thing to make that decision right here right now because I don’t think that it provides consistency and fairness,” said Josie Barnhart, New Hanover County Board of Education Member.   

The updated policy is designed to be consistent with the guidelines the North Carolina Schools Athletic Association has in place.  

Those guidelines state in part, “A student participating in sports must compete with the gender stated on their birth certificate unless otherwise permitted by New Hanover County Schools’ administrative procedures.”    

“I understand the feelings of acceptance, but when we’re looking at how we write policy, should we be saying ‘should we be doing this with motion led feelings’ or try and maintain consistency for our students,” said Barnhart.   

This new policy would require students to go through several interviews to prove the gender identity that they claim.  

The New Hanover County Board of Education could vote on the matter at their meeting on February 7th.