Code of Christian Conduct Covering Students and Parents/Guardians
Students can best receive a quality, morally based education if students, parents/guardians, and school officials work together. Normally, these parties can resolve their differences. In some rare instances, however, the school may find it necessary, in its discretion, to require parents/guardians to withdraw their child.
As an express condition of enrollment, students and parents/guardians shall follow standards of conduct that are consistent with the Christian principles of the school, as determined by the school in its discretion. These principles include but are not limited to any policies or procedures set forth in the school's parent/student handbook.
These Christian principles include but are not limited to:
Parents/guardians are expected to work courteously and cooperatively with the school to assist the student in meeting the academic, moral, and behavioral expectations of the school.
Students and parents/guardians may respectfully express their concerns about the school operation and its personnel. However, they may not do so in a manner that is discourteous, scandalous, rumor driven, disruptive, threatening, hostile, or divisive.
In a place where a school employee is required to be in the course of his or her duties, any parent/guardian or other person whose conduct materially disrupts class work or extracurricular activities or involves substantial disorder may be guilty of a misdemeanor.
Any parent/guardian or other person could risk his or her child's continuation in school if he or she insults or abuses the principal or any teacher in the presence of students, parents/guardians, or other school personnel while on school premises, public sidewalks, public streets, other public ways adjacent to school premises, or at some other place if the principal or teacher is required to be there in connection with assigned school activities.
These expectations for students and parents/guardians include but are not limited to all school-sponsored programs and events (e.g., extended care, athletics, and field trips).
Note: these provisions do not apply to any otherwise lawful employee-concerted activity, including but not limited to picketing and distributing handbills.
The school reserves the right to determine, in its discretion, when conduct is severe enough to warrant immediate action without warning and/or without an intermediate step short of withdrawal.
St. Anthony of Padua Catholic School Policy on Gender Identity for Students for SAP School
Mission
Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of LA perform an essential ecclesial ministry, the ultimate purpose of which is evangelization and formation leading to salvation. Because of the nature of this ministry and the profound responsibilities associated with it, Catholic schools must faithfully impart the truth of Jesus Christ and his Church in all they teach and do. In addition, a Catholic school is subject to the authority of the Church through the diocesan bishop, and its curriculum must be founded on and consistent with the principles of Catholic doctrine.
Catholic education focuses on the integral development of the human person: body, mind, and spirit. Specifically, with regard to issues surrounding gender identity, SAP School shall teach students the truth about the human person (anthropology) and human sexuality, as well as counter any ideology or cultural trend that denies this truth. This applies in a special way to gender ideology—the belief, along with the social and cultural movement it fosters, that sex is not an objective, biological reality but rather that notions of male and female are determined by individuals’ subjective and changing perceptions of self. Essential beliefs and doctrinal principles to be addressed in the school curriculum include the following:
Human beings are created as male and female in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:27). Human dignity is grounded in this special creation.
Sexual difference is willed by God as part of the divine plan. The complementarity that results from sexual differentiation is ordered to the human good and in particular to marriage and family life (Catechism, nn. 369, 2333).
The human person is a body–soul union, and the body is a constitutive aspect of the human person (Catechism, nn. 364, 365).
Human biology demonstrates that sex is determined at conception (XX/XY chromosomes) and can be objectively observed even before birth.
Humans are called to accept their sexual identity, manifested through the body, as a fixed and unchanging element of self (Catechism, n. 2393).
Humans must care for and respect their bodies, which is a constituent dimension of their being. The human body may not be treated as a “piece of property” or “manipulate[d] as a thing or an instrument over which one is master and arbiter.”
All students and families deserve interactions with Catholic school communities that are marked by respect, charity, and the truth about human dignity and God’s love.
In addition to addressing to these essential beliefs, SAP School shall be prepared to offer to students, faculty, staff, administrators, volunteers, and parents well-founded and developmentally appropriate educational resources regarding gender ideology, including but not limited to resources that: (1) clarify the terms commonly employed, particularly gender dysphoria, transgender, and disorder of sexual development; (2) accurately present the realities of contemporary, medically accepted interventions for gender dysphoria, including gender-affirming therapy, puberty-blocking and cross-sex hormones, and sex-reassignment surgeries; and (3) demonstrate how the Catholic Church responds to gender ideology with truth and love based on the writings of Pope Francis, Pope Benedict XVI, and other sources of ecclesial guidance.
Policy Elements
Admission and Retention
A student diagnosed with gender dysphoria may be admitted to SAP school on a case-by-case basis, (assuming they are accepted on merit through academic achievement and good behavior), as long as the student, along with his or her parents or guardians, agrees that the student will abide by standards and the Christian Code of conduct set forth by the school (see above):
The student, along with his or her parents or guardians, agrees that while enrolled in the school, he or she will respect Catholic teaching concerning faith and morals, including those teachings that address human sexuality.
A student may be ineligible for continued enrollment if the student’s expression of gender, gender identity, or sexuality causes confusion or disruption at the school or if it appears to mislead others, cause scandal, or have the potential for causing scandal. As a rule and in accordance with school policy, students are not allowed to cross-dress (as the opposite sex of their birth gender) on any occasion, including events during Spirit Dress up Days or during Halloween or All Saints' Day celebrations.
Respectful, critical discussion of Catholic teaching in the classroom is encouraged as long as its goal is to help the student progress toward greater awareness and understanding. Open hostility toward or defiance of Church teachings indicates that a student is not a proper fit for our Catholic school. The student code of conduct via the Parent Student Pledge and Christian Code of Conduct shall address this potentiality, and the code shall be signed by the student and parents or guardians at the beginning of each school year.
[Other provisions regarding Admission and Retention] ______As with all students, SAP students must meet all expectations re: academic performance, behavioral expectations, and social emotional readiness to achieve grade level success, or it could result in a registration hold, or possible dismissal from the school. All students are held to the same standard.
Conduct and Expectations
Students shall conduct themselves in accord with their biological sex at all times, both on campus and when representing the school at off-campus events. In this policy, sex is defined as “the biological condition of being male or female as based upon physical differences at birth.
Any expression of a student’s gender identity that causes disruption or confusion regarding the Church’s teaching on human sexuality is prohibited. The School's religion curriculum may include teachings from St. Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body, and parents should be aware of these teachings to their children. All parents are expected to be their child's first teacher, working in accordance with the school faculty, staff, and administration, in alignment with Catholic values - as stated in the CCC (Catechism of the Catholic Church).
Students shall abide by the dress code that corresponds with their biological sex.
Students shall participate in competitive athletics in accord with their biological sex.
Students shall use bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their biological sex. Students who have been clinically diagnosed with gender dysphoria may request the use of a single-person, unisex facility. Such requests for accommodation will be assessed by the appropriate school administrator on an individual basis to see if this is even possible. Safety for all students will always be the school's top priority.
When applicable during school-related functions, students shall have access to and use facilities and accommodations that correspond with their biological sex.
When attending school-sponsored functions as a “couple,” especially dances and prom, students may only bring a member of the opposite sex, unless they are performing a dance for the competition, "Dancing with the Students" due to not enough partners for each student to compete in the dance event.
[Other provisions regarding Conduct and Expectations] ___________________________
Names, Pronouns, and Records
Students shall be addressed at all times by their legal names and referred to with pronouns consistent with their biological sex.
Addressing students by a preferred name instead of a legal name (even when the name is gender-neutral), or referring to them by a preferred pronoun that is inconsistent with their biological sex, is not acceptable. Doing so would express a falsehood (i.e., the child is the wrong sex) and signal that the school accepts gender ideology. Addressing a student by a gender-neutral nickname could be permissible in some circumstances. This is a matter of prudential judgment and is done on a case by case basis. All decisions will be made under the guidance of the school's pastor and principal.
Using preferred names and pronouns will cause confusion for other students and could act as a source of scandal. Scandal is defined as “an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil.” It “takes on a particular gravity by reason of the authority of those who cause it or the weakness of those who are scandalized.” Scandal is particularly serious, or grave, when it is “given by those who by nature or office are obliged to teach and educate others (Catechism, nn. 2284, 2285).
Student schedules, identification cards, class lists, correspondence (including college recommendation letters), and permanent records shall reflect the student’s legal name and biological sex. School records are historical documents. If a graduate of the school legally changes his or her name and seeks to have records changed, the records will be released in the following format: “Original name, a.k.a. New Legal Name.”
[Other provisions regarding Names, Pronouns, and Records] ______________________
Counseling and Health Services:
The school shall communicate with parents or guardians about their child’s behavior at the school and inform them of any concerns relating to the physical, emotional, social, and spiritual health, safety, and welfare of their child except when advised otherwise by law enforcement or a social service agency.
The school may suggest counseling to address behavioral health issues for students diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Such counseling should be provided by a licensed mental health provider who understands and respects Catholic anthropology, preferably one who is a practicing Catholic. Catholic schools shall not provide or refer students for so-called gender-affirming psychotherapy.
The school shall not allow, or otherwise cooperate in, the administration of puberty-blocking or cross-sex hormones for students.
While the Catholic Church does not approve of gender-affirming therapies or the use of hormones and surgeries that assist a person in transitioning his or her gender, the Church recognizes that appropriate medical care may be necessary in cases of true genetic or physical anomalies, also known as disorders of sexual development.
[Other provisions regarding Counseling and Health Services] ______________________
