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Quote:
School board OKs return to classroom after sex change
EAGLESWOOD TOWNSHIP, New Jersey (AP) -- To students at Eagleswood Elementary School, she used to be Mr. McBeth.
Now, after undergoing a sex change, 71-year-old Lily McBeth is ready to return to teaching as Miss McBeth.
Despite criticism from parents, the school board on Monday stood by its decision to allow McBeth to resume working as a substitute teacher.
After two hours of public debate and a private meeting with McBeth and her lawyer, the board took no action on calls by several parents to bar McBeth from returning to the school where she taught for five years before becoming a woman.
"It was magnificent," McBeth said afterward. "You saw democracy in action."
McBeth, a retired sales executive who was married for 33 years and had three children, underwent gender reassignment surgery last year and re-applied for her job under her new name.
McBeth on Monday told the school board and the crowd that she loves teaching and children, and looks forward to returning to the classroom.
"This is not something I got into just as a whim," she said.
Several parents said children in the school -- which consists of kindergarten through sixth grade -- were not old enough to understand the concept of changing one's gender.
"I, as a parent, am appalled to have this issue brought into my child's psychology," Steve Bond said.
Vincent Mustacchio predicted "chaos" at the school when the students learned of McBeth's surgery.
Young children will be confused by the conflicting appearance of McBeth, who has a deep voice and masculine features but otherwise looks like a woman, other parents said.
"I will not allow you to put my kids in a petri dish and hope it all turns out fine," said Mark Schnepp, who had taken out an ad in a local newspaper urging parents to turn out for the meeting.
Several people spoke in support of McBeth, including three transgender people, two former students of McBeth's and a handful of others, saying that the fact that she is a good teacher was more important than whether she appears as a man or a woman in class.
"There's really nothing to fear because a person is transgender," said Karina Mari, a mother of three school-age children who said she has transgender relatives.
School board attorney Paul Carr said McBeth was a good teacher who had received favorable reviews during her tenure as a substitute.
Earlier this month, the board voted 4-1 to accept her application to return to the classroom.
It's unclear how soon McBeth will resume teaching, Carr said. That depends on the need for substitutes and the availability of certified teachers who get priority when a spot opens up, he said.
Steven Goldstein, chairman of Garden State Equality, a gay rights advocacy group supporting McBeth's bid to resume teaching, called the school board's action historic.
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First of all, I'll start by saying that I think this is a really good thing in terms of the rights afforded/granted to transgendered people. And I'm really happy that the school board voted 4-1 to accept her application. It gives me some faith in humanity. I think it's clear that Miss McBeth is confident in who she is, and loves teaching enough to want to continue doing so.
And she'll need that confidence when she goes back to school. Because we all know how cruel kids can be. And not just cruel, but confused. And I'm concerned that the brouhaha brought about - by kids, their parents, the media - will wind up overshadowing her teaching, which is what she wants to do in the first place. I think it will take a lot to erode her confidence, but no doubt, it WILL be tested. In addition, there's no guarantee that she'll actually be called upon to substitute - and if she's not, will it be because other teachers are genuinely more qualified, or higher up in the priority list, or because the school board has received complaints and threats?
This is a tough issue. I'd like to know what you think. Do you support the school board's decision? How would you respond if your 8 year-old came back asking you why Miss McBeth looked kind of like a woman but sounded like a man?