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In interviewing Rachel Byers, Guidance Counselor at Merkel High School, she kept referring to confidentiality and the importance of impressing upon her students that anything they tell her is confidential.  She was eager to let me know the problems she sees with many students is the ability to trust her and to be able confide in her.

FERPA
Confidentiality  extends past meeting with students and helping them with private issues, it is also in regards to sharing a students records with others.  Due to FERPA laws, counselors may not share student information with anyone other than a student once they are over 18 years of age.

Ambiguous Boundaries
Rachel also said throughout the past 5 years she has served as a counselor, she has had to inform many students that there are a few instances where she has had to relay to her students that if they tell her something in confidence, but their intent is to harm themselves or someone else, she must report it to someone.
She included that if something did happen and she did not report it, she and the school could be held liable.

Justice for All
Mrs. Byers also mentioned justice for all her students.  She tries to ensure that each of her students are treated fairly at all times and equally have time to meet with her.  She knows many students who could benefit from her services everyday, but she makes sure to equally spread her open times to others who need to meet with her, as well.

Honesty
One other point she shared was how she strives to be honest with each of her students. These students need to hear open honest answers to their many questions without fearing judgement or disapproval. There are many times she feels she must walk a fine line between telling students what they need to hear vs. what they want to hear. She has to remember that every situation is different and what she may truly believe in her heart, may not be the best scenario for some students.

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This website is dedicated to an article addressing a student and parent's rights according to FERPA.
https://easydb.angelo.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ655370&site=eds-live

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i found the following websites to help me to understand the rights of my students.
https://www.ed.gov/ocr-search-resolutions-letters-and-agreements?keywords=civil+rights+for+students&title=&keywords_title_VI=%22Title+VI%22&keywords_title_IX=%22Title+IX%22&keywords_state=TX

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***OCR CORRESPONDENCE NOTIFICATION***

The majority of OCR staff are working remotely because of the pandemic. Therefore, to ensure receipt of your correspondence, please consider emailing or faxing (202-245-8392) it to our office, where it will receive immediate attention. If neither of these options are available to you, mail your correspondence to the address below, and we will process it as soon as conditions allow. You may also contact us at 800-421-3481 or to confirm receipt of your correspondence.
U.S. Department of Education
Office for Civil Rights
Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Bldg
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202-1100

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civil rights; disability discrimination; age discrimination; sex discrimination; racial discrimination; special education; national origin; gender discrimination

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Office for Civil Rights | U.S. Department of Education

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OCR CORRESPONDENCE NOTIFICATION*** The majority of OCR staff are working remotely because of the pandemic. Therefore, to ensure receipt of your correspondence, please consider emailing or faxing (202-245-8392) it to our office, where it will receive immediate attention.

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The other case discussed a motion presented to the courts in Pennsylvania to overrule a law that states transgenders may use the restrooms of the gender they identify with.
Civil rights seem to be a big topic whether referring to a typical students, one with a disability, one who benefits from 504 services, one with special needs or someone who identifies with the opposite sex than they were born.
As a counselor, it is important to stay abreast of current topics and issues and to be able to be a liaison between the students, their parents, teachers and administration to provide the help and accommodations each child is needing.

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Rulings trend against emerging Trump position

Two recent federal court rulings add to the growing body of decisions that find legal protections for transgender students in federal antidiscrimination laws and that run counter to the views emerging from President Donald Trump's administration on the issue.

In late May, a federal appeals court refused to block a Pennsylvania school district's policy of permitting transgender students to use the restrooms or locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. One unusual aspect of the case involving the Boyertown Area School District is that a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, in Philadelphia, ruled unanimously from the bench, about a half hour after hearing oral arguments on May 24, to reject an injunction sought by a group of students who contend the district's pro-transgender policy harms their privacy.

The court issued a brief written order the same day stating that a formal opinion would follow but that it was embracing the reasoning of the federal district judge in the case, who had rejected the privacy arguments of the students opposing the Boyertown district's transgender-inclusive policy.

Earlier that week, on May 22, a federal district judge in Virginia ruled in favor of a female-born transgender teenager, Gavin Grimm, who challenged his school district's policy of barring him from using the restrooms for males.

"This court joins [other federal district and appellate courts] in concluding that claims of discrimination on the basis of transgender status are per se actionable under a gender stereotyping theory under Title IX" of the Education Amendments of 1972, said the decision by U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen of Norfolk, Va., in the case involving the Gloucester County, Va., school district.

The judge also found that the 14th Amendment's guarantee of equal protection of the law applied to transgender students.

"Since the new administration came into office in 2017 and began revoking guidance [on transgender legal protections under Title IX], court after court has held that the statute itself protects trans people and LGB [lesbian, gay, and bisexual] people from discrimination, and that you don't need that agency guidance," said Joshua A. Block, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union's LGBT and HIV Project, who represents Grimm.

Seeking Further Clarification

The Trump administration did not file briefs in the Boyertown or Gloucester County cases (nor in other pending transgender cases). But a range of actions since Trump took office in January 2017 have fueled the view that the administration does not support an interpretation of Title IX that covers transgender discrimination.

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos told a House education committee hearing on May 22 that court precedent was mixed on the issue of legal protections for transgender students and that neither the U.S. Supreme Court nor Congress had settled the question.

"That is not an area where law has been clarified," DeVos said. "I am not going to make up law from the Department of Education."

In early 2017, the Trump administration rescinded Education Department guidance issued under President Barack Obama that interpreted the department's Title IX regulations to require schools to allow transgender students to use the restroom and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. This past February, the department indicated that its office for civil rights will no longer investigate complaints from transgender students related to restroom discrimination.

However, DeVos has repeatedly said that all students, including transgender students, deserve protection from bullying and unfair treatment in schools.

While the Trump administration has not yet fully formalized its views on the protection of transgender students under Title IX, there are other clues about the direction it is headed.

Wave of Rulings

Just as there has been much litigation over Title IX and transgender students in recent years, there has been a wave of lower court rulings interpreting the protection against sex discrimination in employment in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to cover cases of bias against gay workers.

In a case involving a gay employee of a New York state skydiving company who alleged discrimination by his employer, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, in New York City, ruled in February that "sexual orientation is a function of sex and, by extension, sexual orientation discrimination is a subset of sex discrimination."

The U.S. Department of Justice under Trump filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case arguing that discrimination based on sexual orientation is not sex-based bias covered by Title VII.

"An employer who discriminates based on sexual orientation alone does not treat similarly situated employees differently but for their sex," the administration's brief argued. "Gay men and women are treated the same, and straight men and women are treated the same."

The skydiving company on May 30 filed an appeal with the Supreme Court. The legal analysis of sex discrimination in Title VII has been influential for those courts that have ruled on Title IX and transgender students as well.

In ruling in the Grimm case in May, Judge Wright cited Title VII more than 20 times as she held that Title IX prohibition against discrimination "based on sex" in federally funded education programs encompasses bias against transgender students.

"Allegations of gender stereotyping are cognizable Title VII sex discrimination claims and, by extension, cognizable Title IX sex discrimination claims," Wright said.

The ACLU's Block said that while Wright's decision clears the way for a trial in Grimm's case, the main issue of dispute between the parties is the legal question that the judge decided-that Title IX protects transgender students against discrimination.

While Grimm's case is an example of a transgender student challenging what he views as an oppressive school policy, the Pennsylvania case is an example of the main other type of lawsuit in this area: one brought by students claiming that pro-transgender school policies harm their privacy to use facilities among peers of their same birth gender.

"Sex in federal law has always referred to the biological difference between men and women," said Christiana Holcomb, a lawyer with Alliance Defending Freedom, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based legal organization that backs several student privacy lawsuits around the country. "Those courts that have ruled to the contrary are out of step with the plain meaning of Title IX."

Holcomb and the ADF are representing four students in the Boyertown district who object to a policy, adopted during the 2016-17 school year, of allowing transgender students to use facilities consistent with their gender identity.

In court papers, the ADF argued that the school district's policy favored "a subjective continuum of genders" that "eliminates the law's longstanding respect for the anatomical differences between the sexes."

"We're trying to protect the privacy rights of every student, including transgender students and our clients," said Holcomb. "School districts have a duty to protect the privacy and dignity of everyone in their schools."

Mara Keisling, the executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, an advocacy group based in Washington, said "the trends in the courts are absolutely clear: They are ruling again and again with us."

"School districts have to deal with the reality that trans students exist," she said. "They have to operate within the reality that there is a Title IX, and it's very, very clear based on decision after decision that trans people are covered by it. Most schools are doing the right thing."

Published in Print: June 6, 2018, as Courts Take Expansive View In Transgender-Rights Cases

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Courts Take Expansive View in Transgender-Rights Cases

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Two recent federal court rulings add to the growing body of decisions that find legal protections for transgender students in federal antidiscrimination laws and that run counter to the views emerging from President Donald Trump's administration on the issue.

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I have chosen to further investigate students Civil Rights. I feel it is important to make sure all the needs of my students are being met.

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The headlines that seem to be reoccurring seem to be related to civil rights.  Two of the articles I read involved the rights of students. One was referring to students whose civil rights cases were never making it to the proper authorities because they were continually thrown out.
As a counselor it is important to be mindful of the students and making sure every student is treated fairly and receives all modifications and accomodations which are required.

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The U.S. Department of Education can't just dismiss civil rights complaints from those who repeatedly file similar actions, says a lawsuit filed against the department from three advocacy organizations.

The Council for Parent Advocates and Attorneys, the NAACP, and the National Federation of the Blind filed the legal action in federal district court last week, arguing that the department's new approach to handling serial complaints strikes at the heart of the mission of the office for civil rights.

That office enforces laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, both of which prohibit public entities from discriminating against individuals based on disability. It also enforces Title IX, which prohibits gender discrimination in education, and other laws that ban discrimination based on age, race, color, or national origin.

"What they've done is basically stripped complainants of their rights," said Denise Marshall, the executive director of the advocates and attorneys council. "They're dismissing cases, whether or not they have merit."

Earlier this year, the Education Department made changes to the case-processing manual used by its civil rights office. The changes meant that the office reserved the right to dismiss complaints if they represented a "continuation of a pattern of complaints previously filed with OCR by an individual or a group against multiple recipients." The civil rights office also said that it would dismiss single complaints "filed for the first time against multiple recipients that, viewed as a whole, [place] an unreasonable burden on OCR's resources." In such cases, the civil-rights office said it may conduct a compliance review or provide technical assistance.

Other Changes

Those weren't the only changes made to the case-processing manual. Also eliminated was an appeals process that had been available to complaint filers, and the lawsuit takes aim at that new policy, too. Such a change would have to be open for public comment, said Eve Hill, a lawyer representing all three organizations. Hill was a former deputy assistant attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice, civil rights division, during the Obama administration.

"To the extent there's a rationale for that, they haven't stated one," she said. "It's a substantive change to the rights of complainants."

After the department changed how it processes cases, it started dismissing hundreds of complaints filed by Marcie Lipsitt, a disability advocate in Michigan. Lipsitt's complaints focused on website accessibility. She said that websites of various educational entities were inaccessible for those who are blind or visually impaired or who cannot use a mouse to navigate a web page. Lipsitt has filed more than 2,000 complaints in the past two years.

In addition to having her complaints tossed out, Lipsitt also said she's getting notices that entities that had already settled their accessibility cases as far back as two years ago were now being given "modified resolution agreements." The new agreements no longer have language that requires entities to meet certain technical accessibility standards, train staff annually on accessibility issues, or report on their progress based on a certain timeline.

Lipsitt was gratified to hear of the lawsuit.

"My position hasn't changed from day one. You don't have be an attorney to know these revisions are unlawful. They go against the [OCR's] mission statement," Lipsitt said. "These provisions strip every American of their civil rights and their ability to file civil rights complaints. And the beauty of civil rights complaints has been that everyone has been able to file one."

Liz Hill, a spokeswoman for the Education Department, said the agency could not comment on pending litigation. However, she said the changes to the case-processing manual were made in consultation with staff investigators and managers. Dismissing complaints if they're part of a pattern "is intended to permit [the civil rights office] to remain active in every type of discrimination subject matter while retaining discretion to engage in technical assistance efforts where appropriate," she said. The office still accepts all complaints, including those from advocacy organizations, she said.

The Trump administration's proposed budget included a cut to the office for civil rights. But Congress rejected that request in its March budget agreement. The $117 million that Congress appropriated for OCR was $10 million more than requested and $8.5 million more than it had been appropriated in fiscal 2017. In the budget agreement, Congress said the money was intended to increase staffing so that the office could effectively investigate complaints.

Published in Print: June 6, 2018, as Ed. Dept. Sued Over New Approach to Civil Rights Complaints

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Ed. Dept. Sued Over New Approach to Civil Rights Complaints

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The U.S. Department of Education can't just dismiss civil rights complaints from those who repeatedly file similar actions, says a lawsuit filed against the department from three advocacy organizations.

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Throughout my search, I have learned that "civil rights" means more than just making sure students of different races are all treated fairly.  While reading I noticed how much falls under the "civil rights" umbrella in education.  Ensuring students are treated fairly in all areas, is a major priority for administrators and counselors.
One concern is making sure all school personnel and administrators are following FERPA laws.  Maintaining confidentiality not only among people outside of the school system, but also those who work in the school setting but are not directly affected by the student and his/her affairs. It is crucial that all counselors and administrators emphasize this to their colleagues.
Another concern is creating a safe environment for students whose beliefs may be different than what used to be the "norm" for students.  Even young students suffer from gender identification issues, identify as a gay male or female or many other qualities that could make them feel unaccepted by their peers.  It is important to make sure that every student feels safe in the school environment and we need to take any step necessary to help them feel comfortable.
There are other issues associated with a student's "civil rights." Through research, I hope to be able to understand the issues and help to be a part of the solution for generations to come. My goal is to be a pillar of strength for students who may need support. I also want to be able to help all students feel they and their beliefs are valued and an important part of the school community.

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Samuels, C. A. (2018). Civil Rights Complaints in U.S. District Court, 2000.       PsycEXTRA Dataset. doi:10.1037/e594032007-001