GRANADA – Granada-Huntley-East Chain School Board elected to rescind their most recent Title IX changes made in August 2024 during Thursday’s School Board meeting.

The rescinded version will be replaced by the previous most recent version, which was passed in 2020. The change had been made regarding a Biden Administration Title IX “Final Rule” addition, which included gender identity under protections prohibiting discrimination.

This allowed transgender students to play on sports teams corresponding with their preferred gender. It overall ruled against transgender students being discriminated against across all sports.

This change was vacated by a federal court on Jan 8, 2025. The Minnesota School Board Association then made the recommendation that all school boards remove the “Final Rule” from their Title IX Policies. Superintendent Doug Storbeck said they chose to take their recommendation and put it to a school board vote.

Board Member Laura Koch motioned to follow the MSBA’s Title IX recommendation, with Board Member Ken Madsen seconding the motion. The school board unanimously approved the change.

In other news:

— Middle School/High School Principal Andy Walden said they are considering adding cell phone pouches. He said the students would put the phones in the pouches in the morning and take them out at the end of the day. He said students are already not allowed to use phones during the school day, but they are still allowed to be on their person. Walden said he has looked into research like that presented in “The Anxious Generation”. He said there would be plenty of communication with students and parents before a change like this went into effect.

— A sick leave bank was approved. The bank would allow staff members to deposit sick leave hours into it, and designate someone else to be able to use them. Storbeck said it could be used to help a staff member in need if there was an emergency. Board Member Brad Mattison said it is important for staff to know that donated time is gone for good and cannot be compensated for after the fact.