BOMBSHELL: Cd’A Schools Adopted “Transgender Student Guidelines” in 2014 — Former Trustees Shocked Saying “I Would Have Flat Out Voted No On It”
Crazy - Not Conservative
Update 3/17/2023 - a previous version of this article mistakenly stated that the Hitching Post went out of business. They are, in fact, still in business and even won their case against the City. The mistake was made due to a lack of available reporting on the subject.
Coeur d’Alene School District is back in hot water, following the release of the District’s “Transgender Student Guidelines” that had, until now, been kept hidden away from the prying eyes of the public.
This comes at a time that Coeur d’Alene Schools are seeking a Perpetual $25 Million Dollar a year levy that is “steadfastly opposed” by the KCRCC, the official Kootenai County Republican Party.
The policy documents were released in a series of Tweets by Conservative activist and founder of the Citizens Alliance of Idaho, Matt Edwards.
According to meeting minutes, the “Transgender Student Guidelines” were adopted on July 7th, 2014. That was the same meeting that Christa Hazel, a left wing agitator who has been linked to the violent domestic terrorist organization Antifa, was elected Chairman of Coeur d’Alene School District’s Board of Trustees.
Notable passages from the “Transgender Student Guidelines” adopted by the board say:
“Gender Identity is a person’s inner sense of being male or female, regardless of their biological sex assigned at birth.”
“Students have the right to dress in accordance with their gender identity that is consistently asserted at school,”
“…where students are separated by gender in school activities (e.g. overnight field trips), students should be permitted to participate in accordance with their gender identity consistently asserted at school.”
“A transgender student should not be required to use a locker room or restroom that conflicts with the student’s gender identity.”
“…students should be permitted to participate in physical education and sports in accordance with the student’s gender identity that is consistently asserted at school.”
“Any student ID should be issued in the name that reflects a student’s gender identity that is consistently asserted at school.”
We reached out to Trustees who were on the board at the time the “guidelines” were adopted.
Tom Hamilton is a Conservative who served as Chairman of Cd’A Schools Board of Trustees until 2014. According to the Spokesman Review, Hamilton “led a conservative takeover of the Coeur d’Alene School Board.”
In a phone call with Idaho Tribune reporters, Hamilton said “I would have flat out voted no on it.”
Hamilton was known as the “policy wonk” on the board, enthusiastic about reading every line of policy, and crafting new policies for the District. “They used to call me the policy wonk. I was the guy that stuck to details in the policy. I read everything.”
According to the Cd’A School Board’s meeting minutes, Hamilton seconded the motion to adopt the guidelines which passed in a 5-0 vote. Hamilton said:
“There is no chance. We had screaming matches over it. I went to the attorney general and got a document that said if they wanted to be identified with different pronouns or as a different gender, you’d have to get a new birth certificate.”
“The last thing I would want is a 13 year old girl to be in the showers with a penis. It’s hard enough as it is to be a kid in school without that.”
Hamilton continued, saying “The one concession I would have made is if someone asked for a private bathroom to use, I would have been ok with that.” But otherwise, “If you’re a biological male, you’re going to stay with the biological males.”
Former Conservative Trustee Terri Seymour said that this “is absolutely not what I voted on. I never would have supported that policy. I was adamantly opposed, because that’s what they were trying to do. They wanted gender neutral bathrooms, locker rooms, etc…”
Earlier in 2014, liberal trustee Tom Hearn had brought forward policies about “Gender Identity” issues, during a coordinated campaign with the Human Rights Foundation, a George Soros linked NGO, during their controversial “Add The Words” campaign.
According to Maureen Dolan in a March 4th Coeur d’Alene Press article:
The controversial campaign to change Idaho's anti-discrimination laws to include protections for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community has surfaced again in Coeur d'Alene.
Nine months after the Coeur d'Alene City Council adopted an ordinance that prohibits discrimination in employment and public accommodations on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, Coeur d'Alene School District trustees are being asked to do something similar.
The article which was about a contentious Board of Trustees meeting continues:
Tim Scott, a former tennis coach at Lake City High School, spoke next.
Scott accused trustees Tom Hearn and Christa Hazel of being dishonest about the issue.
Scott said he and John Padula, who also attended Monday's board meeting, asked trustees in January and February if they were having any discussions with members of the LGBT community, and they were told no discussions were taking place.
"...this board was addressed with a concern relating to the LGBT approaching the school district board and proposing a change in school policy wording that would create a special class and a special group of individuals, which could ultimately open the door to allow these individuals access to their respective opposite restrooms and showers facilities and provide them with special privileges not available to other students," Scott said.
Scott said that through a public records request, the men received copies of all of Tom Hearn's school board account emails for November and December and discovered two instances where Hearn communicated with members of the LGBT community and the school board.
"You guys acted like there was nothing going on…"
Former Trustee Tom Hamilton said that he remembered this organized campaign, noting that Coeur d’Alene City Council had recently passed a LGBT ordinance that made it illegal for a little chapel called The Hitching Post to continue doing business. The Hitching Post, which was owned by a Christian family, refused to perform same-sex marriages. The Idaho Constitution only recognizes marriage as between one man and one woman.
The LGBT ordinance was approved of by Fake Republican Dan Gookin, and disgraced North Idaho College Trustee Christie Wood.
The Hitching Post eventually won its case after an expensive court battle, and still does business in Coeur d’Alene.
In 2021, following a community uproar against the school district due to it’s highly unpopular mask and vaccine policies, a similar conservative takeover of the Coeur d’Alene school board was attempted with KCRCC backed candidates Leslie Bjerke, Allie Anderton, and Glen Campbell. Bjerke and Anderton won their races, but Campbell lost by a narrow margin.
The Idaho Tribune spoke with current Coeur d’Alene School Board Trustee Leslie Bjerke about the policies. “I’m shocked,” she said. “I didn’t even know they existed. None of us even knew that it was there until Matt e-mailed us.”
Dr. Shon Hocker, the current Superintendent of Coeur d’Alene Public schools told the Tribune that “no one can say this was left out of the public’s eye.” However when searching the District’s website, the guidelines in question cannot be found with the search function. The only result that comes back is the Districts “Suicide Prevention” policy.
Hocker continued, saying “There were multiple board meetings held where this topic was discussed leading up to the board approving the guidelines 7/7/2014.”
Unfortunately, the Coeur d’Alene School Board’s website only provides meeting minutes as far back as 2021, and we have been unable to search the archives using their online portal.
Recently, these policies have been in the news, after chaos erupted in Caldwell Idaho, when their School District Board of Trustees shut down Senator Chris Trakel, who was giving public comment against the policy during the meeting.
It has since come to light that the Chairwoman of the board, Marisela Pesina, has a son that identifies as Trans and preforms at drag shows like Boise Pride.
The policy under consideration at Caldwell High School is the Idaho School Board Association (ISBA) Policy #3281 on “Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation.” The ISBA has been urging all Idaho Schools to adopt this policy, and has already been implemented at over 60 schools.
The policy has drawn sharp criticism from Attorney General Raul Labrador who cautioned the ISBA that the policy may be illegal according to Idaho’s Laws.
Coeur d’Alene School District has a unique opportunity ahead. This November, two more seats on the school board will be up for election, which could give Coeur d’Alene residents a supermajority on the board. If that happens, Coeur d’Alene schools could craft a policy that could become the Gold Standard of “transgender” policies not only in the state, but in the country.
Speaking with the Tribune, Trustee Allie Anderton said:
Since finding out about the "guidelines" I have reached out to several other school districts in Idaho as well as looked into other states who have successfully written policy outlining bathroom, locker room, and lodging for students to be addressed assigned and limited to biological sex.
I am looking at sample policies as well, and will be looking to modify and/or combine those policies to fit our district and community values, and present that to the rest of the board as soon as possible. Ultimately the rights, privacy, comfort, and safety of students in our district, regardless of sexual orientation, are of the utmost importance to me both personally and as a Board member.
Matt Edwards, who initially found the “hidden” guidelines at Coeur d’Alene schools still has questions though, and we do too. Edwards said on Twitter:
“This is a serious issue, because for 9 years, diligent parents who did basic research of the school district on their website as they vetted where their child would be attending school, would never have come across these guidelines. In fact, current and past Coeur d' Alene Board members I spoke with told me they didn't know that "guidelines" were something that the district had, that weren't a part of existing policy that is readily available. What other guidelines does the district operate under that isn't public?”
Former Conservative Trustee Tom Hamilton said in a phone call, “I wonder if this was done behind our backs. I guarantee you, NEVER would I have voted for boys using a girls locker room.”
This is an ongoing story, and we will be providing updates as soon as they are available.