As with every endeavor the Sun Prairie Area School District (SPASD or District, hereinafter) strategically takes, we are first and foremost grounded in the Vision and Mission of the organization, which was co-created with our community:
Vision: Recognized as a high-performing district of choice that reflects the cultures of our diverse community.
Mission: Inspire and prepare every child, every day, by providing relevant, engaging, and innovative learning experiences in and out of the classroom.
This page has been created for two primary purposes. First, we’d like to address the incident that occurred at Sun Prairie East High School (EHS, hereinafter) and topics that have come up as a result of this incident, such as pupil confidentiality. Second, we’d like to better explain how we support our LGBTQIA+ students, family members, staff, and community.
The District mission, “Futures depend on us to inspire and prepare every child, every day, by providing relevant, engaging and innovative learning experiences in and out of the classroom,” dictates that we work to create inclusive learning environments in which transgender, non-binary, and gender-expansive students feel welcome, safe, possess a sense of belonging, and receive the social/emotional supports they need to be successful in a high-quality, rigorous academic program.
With recent media coverage elevating an incident that occurred at EHS in early March, we’ve created a webpage to help our families and community members better understand how the SPASD’s vision and mission, the School Board’s Equity Statement, and Constitutional law and federal case law have played into this situation.
Due to laws protecting student privacy, we cannot comment on the details of the incident. However, we can share:
We want to be clear:
The SPASD affirms its commitment to maintain the privacy rights of its students. The District is subject to federal and state laws, along with School Board policies and related guidance, that address student privacy at school. For example, federal and state laws prohibit the District from providing “pupil records” along with information contained within such records to third parties (i.e. persons other than the specific pupil, and the pupil’s parent, guardian or caretaker). In other words, the District cannot share information about one student with other students, families or third parties, except in limited circumstances. More information about these laws and policies can be found at Policy JO, Student Records (May 2021).pdf (boarddocs.com), JO-E(1), Student Records Notice (May 2021).pdf (boarddocs.com), and JO-R, Guidelines for the Maintenance & Confidentiality of Student Records (May 2021).pdf (boarddocs.com)
Beyond these protections, the District has a specific policy that addresses student privacy in the District’s locker rooms: Policy ECAD, Locker Room Privacy (boarddocs.com)
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) This federal law affords parents the right to access their children’s education records, the right to seek to have the records amended, and the right to have some control over the disclosure of personally identifiable information from these education records. This law also prohibits the District from disclosing “personally identifiable information in education records” without the written consent of an eligible student, or if the student is a minor, then the student’s parents.
Wisconsin State Statute 118.125 This is Wisconsin’s pupil records statute. This state law prohibits the District from disclosing information about one student to other students, families and third parties, except in very limited circumstances set forth in the policy. A good example of an exception that permits the District to share limited information about students is what is considered “directory data.” More information about the District’s directory data notice can be found here: SAMPLE (boarddocs.com)
OE 3: Treatment of Community Stakeholders and OE 10: Learning Environment. These are School Board policies that, among other things, mandate that the Superintendent protects confidential student information.
Dear Sun Prairie High School Parents and Caregivers,
We want you to know that we are aware of a Fox News article that was released today, elevating an incident that occurred at Sun Prairie East High School in early March.
Due to laws protecting student privacy, we cannot comment on the details of the incident that is the subject of the article. However, we can share that the article provides neither an accurate nor complete account of the events that occurred. We also want you to know that the District had previously addressed this incident when it was brought to our attention. Steps have been taken to ensure that it does not recur.
If your student needs any support at school, please contact a Student Services member.
Please reach out if you have questions or concerns. Our District will continue to comply with all applicable laws and meet the needs of all District students.
Brad Saron, Superintendent
Stephanie Leonard-Witte, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching, Learning, and Equity
Janet Rosseter, Assistant Superintendent for Operations
Dear Sun Prairie Families,
The Sun Prairie Area School District has seen various media accounts of the incident that is the subject of a letter from the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty. While we do not know the source of the information that has been shared about this incident, we need to make one thing clear: several accounts of this incident are ill-informed, inaccurate, and incomplete. While student privacy and other laws prevent the District from addressing the specific events that occurred, we can share the following information:
Further, and to be clear:
Unfortunately, what is playing out in the media is based on assumptions about this incident that are simply untrue. We know it is easy to blame schools for events like this when people are outraged. The simple truth is that this incident should not have happened. But it did, and the District addressed it long before the recent publicity.
School districts across the country are striving to protect and support all students. Districts must balance the dual goals of supporting transitioning students while also protecting the privacy interests of all students. The Sun Prairie Area School District is committed to doing so in a manner that is grounded in our mission, vision, and equity statement. The District stands in support of all of its students and will continue to ensure that all students’ rights are protected.
Brad Saron, Superintendent
Stephanie Leonard-Witte, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching, Learning, & Equity
Janet Rosseter, Assistant Superintendent of Operations
Dear Sun Prairie Families:
The SPASD is committed to communicating with our staff, families, caregivers, and community as transparently and timely as possible.
As with all situations we deal with, the safety of all our students is our very first priority. School districts across the state and nation must balance the dual goals of supporting transitioning students (transgender, non-binary, and gender-expansive students) while also protecting the privacy interests of all students. The Sun Prairie Area School District is committed to doing so in a manner that is grounded in our mission, vision, and equity statement. The District stands in support of all of its students and will continue to ensure that all students’ rights are protected.
Recently, an event that happened at SP East High School in March has brought to our attention that more communication has been necessary to meet the needs of our community. The Board of Education has also asked the administrative team to develop an improved strategy to communicate about the event, and to help our community better understand how we support our LGBTQIA+ students, staff, and families, not only through our partnerships but also through our formal district documents, such as guidelines.
As such, we’ve worked hard to develop this webpage, entitled Supporting All Students. This webpage includes two primary sections. First, there is a section that addresses the incident that occurred at Sun Prairie East High School and topics that have come up as a result of this incident, such as pupil confidentiality. Second, there is a section to better explain how we support our LGBTQIA+ students, family members, staff, and community. The Sun Prairie Area School District Board of Education proudly adopted and continues to stand behind the Board's Equity Statement (below) for the school district. We firmly support the District's mission to ensure ALL children are safe and loved in our schools.
Admittedly, our school district is not perfect. We want you to know that in instances when we get feedback from our community, we always take this feedback seriously, and we will always do our best to meet the needs of our students, families, and community members and to improve our practices.
Our best,
Brad Saron, Superintendent
Diana McFarland, Board President
We are dedicated to clearly and transparently communicating with our families and community within the limits of student and personnel confidentiality.
There are instances throughout the year when we select to send mass communications about a specific event that has happened, either in the school district as a whole or at a specific school campus.
Generally speaking, we will send event-specific communication when something has happened that may be related to school safety or a student event with a school-wide impact.
In instances when staff must be vigilant regarding student confidentiality in order to avoid inadvertently disclosing student identity, disability, orientation, etc., we utilize parent/caregiver-specific communication. This is particularly true in situations that do not involve large groups of students.
Each day, almost 10,000 students and staff members learn and work within our 15 schools. With that many people in our schools, it is not uncommon to have violations of our guidelines. Given the size of our community, we do our best to keep families informed with the information most relevant to their students’ experience.
There are situations when an issue becomes “viral,” and person-to-person communication and social media posts out-pace our capacity to investigate the facts of a situation, making it seem as though we are not quickly addressing the issue. In those instances, we may send a larger communication to a larger group of families and caregivers. We are always working to balance keeping families informed while ensuring we have enough time to complete a thorough and accurate investigation.
In summary, our schools are expected to communicate with parents and caregivers regularly. If an event happens that is related to school safety or a student event with a school-wide impact, or in other unique circumstances, schools are expected to communicate with families once it can address the event accurately after an investigation.
DISTRICT WEBSITE - Find event calendars, resources for families, newsletters, menus, community information
SCHOOL WEBSITE - Each school has its own web page accessible through the District homepage.
PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS CAN RECEIVE EMAILS, PHONE CALLS, AND TEXTS
You can choose to be contacted via email, phone, and/or text message. In addition to school newsletters and messaging, we will contact you in emergency situations, such as weather closings or building emergencies. Update your contact information in the Infinite Campus parent portal.
INFINITE CAMPUS PARENT PORTAL - Click the “Infinite Campus” icon on the District home page. The portal gives parents and caregivers access to grades, assignment due dates, attendance, lunch account balances, fees, and more.
NEWSLETTERS - In addition to each school offering a monthly newsletter, the District offers several newsletters a year to keep families and the community connected to the great things happening in our District. You can view past newsletters under the “Community” tab and “District Newsletters.”
PEACHJAR FLYERS - We connect our families to community events and activities using an electronic flyer system. Watch for a weekly email containing new flyers for your student’s school.
The Sun Prairie Area School District Board of Education proudly adopted and continues to stand behind the Board's Equity Statement (below) for the school district. We firmly support the District mission and to ensure ALL children are safe and loved in our schools. Every Child, Every Day. In June, we will reaffirm our Equity Statement by approving a resolution in support of our LGBTQIA+ students, staff, and community members in honor of Pride Month.
We are honored to be joined by other community leaders in supporting our LGBTQIA+ students, staff, and community members and the school district.
We stand by our LGBTQIA+ students and staff. We take seriously our responsibility to provide safe, nondiscriminatory, and inclusive environments for people of all orientations and identities as they reflect our diverse community around us.
It is my vision that all who live, work, and play in Sun Prairie have the opportunity to thrive in a community that is safe and welcoming of their identity. Our LGBTQ+ youth are amongst the most marginalized and have the right to experience such an environment. I support the current actions made by the Sun Prairie Area School District and their ongoing efforts to create an atmosphere of inclusion and safety for our community’s LGBTQ+ youth.
It is important that Sun Prairie strives to create a welcoming and supportive community for our LGBTQIA+ students. Our students show up every day to meet the challenge of growing up in today’s world, and I’m grateful that our educators and staff are here to support and protect our youth while creating a safe learning environment where every student has the opportunity to thrive.
I fully support transgender and non-binary youth as well as the LGBTQIA+ community. Every student deserves to feel safe in the classroom, in their school and in the community. School policies regarding our transgender and non-binary youth need to be flexible in order to accommodate each student’s individual needs as they transition or as they affirm their identity. I applaud the Sun Prairie Area School District and the School Board as they work to intentionally and thoughtfully create spaces in which all students are accepted, respected, and supported to be themselves.
As lawmakers and leaders in our communities, we have the duty to look out for the best interests of all Wisconsinites, including our LGBTQ+ youth. All kids deserve to feel safe, loved, and know that they belong. I support Sun Prairie Schools and the action they’ve taken to create a fair, safe, and inclusive school environment for their students.
GSAFE commends SPASD for its ongoing efforts to support students, families, and staff who are LGBTQIA+. The CDC has long recommended the adoption of comprehensive anti-discrimination and bullying policies as an important best practice in improving the health and well-being outcomes for LGBTQ+ youth. Towards that end and in order to ensure safe and supportive learning environments for transgender and nonbinary students, Wisconsin school districts are adopting procedures that create clear processes for staff, students, and families and provide guidance for consistent practice. These procedures are informed by the best practices developed over the past 20 years by education leaders in conversations with students and families at the local, state, and federal level. Their goal is to make sure every student feels like they belong while balancing the safety and privacy needs of all students and families. Good procedures are flexible and meet the accommodation needed by a diverse student body. They do not relegate any student to a solution that sacrifices their safety or dignity. SPASD procedures provide a strong foundation for all members of their community as they strive towards these goals.
Various laws address the rights of transgender, non-binary and gender-expansive students in our District. Those laws include the following:
Our federal laws are typically interpreted by federal courts. Our federal courts are organized into 13 different circuits. Wisconsin is located in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. That means Wisconsin school districts must follow the federal laws as interpreted by the Seventh Circuit.
The Seventh Circuit issued a decision addressing a transgender student’s challenge to another Wisconsin school district’s policy that prohibited students from accessing the bathrooms consistent with their gender identities. In that case, the court ruled that school policies prohibiting bathroom access consistent with a transgender student’s gender identity can violate both Title IX and the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Other federal courts have interpreted the above-referenced federal laws differently than the Seventh Circuit, so in some areas of the country the law may be different. Unless and until the law in the Seventh Circuit changes, the District is obligated to comply with the law as interpreted by the Seventh Circuit.
Note that the law on this issue is in a state of flux. For example, the Department of Education issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to amend the agency’s Title IX regulations to define sex discrimination to include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The District will ensure that it complies with any updates to the law that are binding on the District.
No student may be unlawfully discriminated against in any school programs, activities or in facilities usage because of the student’s sex (gender identity, gender expressions, and non-conformity to gender role stereotypes), color, religion, profession, or demonstration of belief or non-belief, race, national origin (including limited English proficiency), ancestry, creed, pregnancy, marital or parental status, homelessness status, sexual orientation, age, or physical, mental, emotional or learning disability. Harassment is a form of discrimination and shall not be tolerated in the District. It is the responsibility of administrators, staff members and all students to ensure that student discrimination or harassment does not occur.
(SPASD District Policy JB)
If a student or parent/guardian would prefer to have this information translated into Spanish, please contact us at 608-834-6620. Si un estudiante, padre ó guardian prefiere tener esta información traducida en Español, por favor contactenos en el 608-834-6620.
If a student or parent/guardian would prefer to have this information translated into Hmong, please contact us at 608-834-6630. Yog tus me nyuam lub xiv los yog niam thiab txiv/tus neeg muaj cai saib xyuas tus me nyuam xav tau qhov ntawv ntawm no ua lus Hmoob, thov hais rau peb paub rau ntawm 608-834-6630.
The SPASD is committed to providing a safe, inclusive, nondiscriminatory learning environment for all students, including students who are transgender, non-binary, and/or gender-expansive, in accordance to the Board’s Equity Statement and the SPASD Pupil Nondiscrimination Clause. Under many circumstances, an individual's transgender, nonbinary, or gender-expansive status serves as a basis for legal rights and protections.
When any student across the State of Wisconsin comes to their public school district and requests support for their gender identity, school systems are required to support students and their families. In order to ensure that students in the District are consistently supported in ways that are aligned to state and federal law, we have created district-wide guidance for all of our 15 campuses in the District.
The SPASD Board of Education has delegated to the administrative team the creation and implementation of guidelines to support our transgender and gender-expansive students.
When the administrative team sets out to develop guidelines, we make certain that the process is comprehensive. We first and foremost partner with a school law attorney to assist us with incorporating state and federal statute and case law. We reach out to other school districts in the region and the state to look for examples. We consult with associations with expertise on the topic and ask for guidance and best practices. Finally, we formulate the guidelines to be aligned to the vision and mission of the organization and to any seminal documents the Board of Education has approved to give the organization direction, such as the Board’s Equity Statement and the District’s pupil nondiscrimination clause.
When a student requests support from the school district, our student services and administrative staff collaboratively work with students and their parents/caregivers to develop individualized supports that follow the guidance in the Guidelines to Support Transgender, Non-Binary, and Gender-Expansive Students.
The following guidelines, first created in 2017, serve two important purposes. First, significant portions of the guidelines facilitate compliance with the District's legal obligations. Second, even where specific actions may not be required by applicable law, these guidelines are intended to further the District's local goals concerning the creation and maintenance of positive and supportive environments that appropriately provide for the education, safety, and welfare of all students.
While the guidelines established in this document provide important direction to District employees, students, caregivers, and other persons, the guidelines do not anticipate every situation that may occur with respect to students who are transgender, non-binary, or gender-expansive. When an issue or concern arises that is not adequately addressed by these guidelines, the needs of the student will be assessed on an individualized basis and in consultation with caregivers where appropriate.
These guidelines cover conduct that takes place in the school, on school property, at school-sponsored events and activities, on school buses or vehicles, and at bus stops. These guidelines also pertain to usage of electronic technology and electronic communication that occurs in the school, on school property, at school‑sponsored events and activities, on school buses or vehicles, at bus stops, and on school computers, networks, forums, and mailing lists. These guidelines apply to the entire school community, including educators, other school and District staff, students, caregivers, volunteers, and visitors.
