BOISE, Idaho – Apparently officials in the Boise, Idaho school district don’t think student dignity and privacy – even in school restrooms – should be a concern for parents.

The district recently made headlines when a female student at South Junior High told her parents that a male student was being allowed to use girls restrooms.

It turns out the boy is a transgender student who self-identifies as a girl. The school decided to let that student use girls restrooms, based on its interpretation of a legal directive from the U.S. Department of Education.

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The parents reacted by removing their daughter from the school due to privacy and safety concerns.

Many critics of transgender restroom/locker room policies have no objection to making special accommodations for transgender students, as long as they don’t infringe on the privacy rights of the vast majority of students.

Critics also believe that parents should be conferred about radical new policies involving student privacy, or at least warned in advance of implementation..

At Boise’s South Junior High, school officials chose not to inform parents of the new restroom policy, as Principal Steve Hultberg acknowledged to The Idahoan.

“South Junior High did not notify other parents and students of the decision,” the newspaper wrote. “It was a matter between school officials and the (transgender student’s) family, Hultberg said.”

Hultberg’s statement prompted EAGnews to contact the Boise district, seeking answers to the following questions:

Does the district believe that the new policy is none of the other students’ business, even though they are clearly affected, and some will obviously be uncomfortable with it?

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Does the district not believe the parents of all the other children at least deserved some notice of this radical departure from traditional policy?

Was the possibility of engaging the public (regarding transgender policy) ever discussed by school officials? If so, what was the rationale for rejecting that idea?

Ryan Hill, the district spokesman, responded with an email saying, “Thanks for sending the questions. I’ll get some responses soon.”

After several days, Hill responded with an email saying the district would not address those questions.

Hiding from the public

Boise is certainly not the first school district to adopt a radical transgender policy (in published form or in practice), without consulting or warning parents and other residents.

And it’s not the first district to avoid media questions regarding the quiet implementation of such policies.

EAGnews recently learned that the Minneapolis school district adopted a policy in January 2014 allowing transgender students to use restrooms of their choice.

But it was seemingly done in a stealth-like fashion.

A search of Minneapolis area news publications, in the months prior to the policy adoption, revealed nothing that would have alerted the public.

When repeatedly asked by EAGnews if they had conferred with or informed the public, school officials failed to respond.

In early March EAGnews learned that the Clark County, Nevada school district (Las Vegas) was obviously considering a similar policy, with a draft being distributed among staff.

District officials did not respond when asked if they planned to consult with parents and other residents.

Not every school district has been so secretive.

Last month the St. Paul, Minnesota district adopted the same type of transgender policy, opening up restroom and locker room use. But officials made obvious attempts to alert the public, consult with residents, and measure public opinion before the school board voted.

Why don’t all school officials employ the same type of candor?

Karen England, executive director of the Capitol Resource Institute in Sacramento, California, suspects that school officials want to avoid public protest by quietly adopting transgender policies.

“It’s beyond arrogant,” England said. “They think they know better than everyone else and don’t need to alert parents. The truth is that they know if they do, the parents won’t stand for it. They won’t sit still and allow their children’s privacy to be invaded.”

England also thinks many school officials have been bullied into compliance by the federal government. Many districts have received the same notice that the Boise district received, instructing them to alter restroom and shower facility policies to accommodate transgender students.

The Boise school district released the following statement regarding the transgender case at South Junior High:

“The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights has instructed schools nationwide that sex discrimination prohibitions in federal law include protections for gender identity. As such, under federal civil rights law, the District is required to provide access to public facilities consistent with the student’s gender identity.”

If schools fail to comply, they know they are running a risk of legal harassment by the American Civil Liberties Union or other organizations, which are aggressively pushing the transgender rights agenda.

The Gloucester County, Virginia school board recently adopted a policy reserving student restrooms for children of the same biological gender. A transgender student, with the assistance of the ACLU, responded by filing a formal civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice.

“Schools are being bullied,” England said. “They are being threatened with lawsuits if they don’t adopt the exact policies that these extremists want. But they should stand up to the bullying. They have a responsibility to keep the best interests of all children in the forefront.”