well school's out for the summer in Bridgewater but the year didn't end without a heated battle between community and school board members over a controversial policy called 5756 now that policy requires school districts to not inform parents when a child indicates a desire to change their gender identity at school and the debate in Bridgewwater came after a child was hospitalized for suicidal ideiation senior correspondent Brenda Flanigan has more on the debate that happened during the last board meeting of this school year this has turned into a political show board members in the Bridgewater Raritan District clashed over policy 5756 Jury's controversial guidance that prohibits disclosing a student's transgender status to family without obtaining the child's consent two of the nine board members here have pushed repeatedly to repeal the policy despite being outnumbered complained member Jennifer Lorren because you know that you don't have the votes you know that from the first discussion you never had the votes and yet you're putting it forth again because you want to make a display of it it needs to stop the policy is deeply polarizing opponents believe families should be part of gender transition discussions involving their own kids an argument made by parents rights groups and broadly supported by the Trump administration it's why board member Lucy Lee wants to rescend policy 5756 i believe this policy does more harm than good for that reasons out of compassion and love for our children in our district that's the reason I move to repeal this policy the policy is not mandatory approximately 26 out of some 600 districts statewide have legally repealed it but ongoing board disagreements like the one in Bridgewater plus court battles in Jersey over 5756 have reportedly created an emotional crucable for transgender kids especially when combined with national debates over transgender curriculum treatment for minors and trans students in sports we have students in our district right now who are experiencing mental health issues because of this discussion specifically we have a student who was hospitalized two weeks ago for suicidal ideiations specifically because of the actions of this board and of the people that are coming to speak it's just that you have to take into context what our political climate is like right now trans activist Bailey Asbury graduated from a high school in Warren County not Bridgewwater she tried to describe the emotional panic currently confronting so many trans students to be in in a hostile environment like that it's it's really easy to succumb to you know the the pressure of of the community and it's it's terrifying the anti-LGBTQ especially anti-trans policies that are being um just introduced around the country is literally leading to them having an impact on their mental health whether that's depression whether that's anxiety studies show trans kids face a higher risk of self harm than cisgender peers but the Trump administration recently ended a suicide crisis hotline for LGBTQ plus youth calling it a chat service where children are encouraged to embrace radical gender ideology by counselors without consent or knowledge of their parents explained a spokesperson from the White House Office of Management and Budget it's an argument that carries a heavy cultural and legal payload advocates say it is the privilege and the journey of that student to feel comfortable coming out to their parents in New Jersey courts concerned for student safety have so far blocked a handful of districts from implementing their own policies that do require parental notification even as a legal challenge to 5756 continues for now the policy mostly shields a trans students identity the policy recognizes is that in some instances if you immediately notify the parents you can have some hard and fast and difficult results like kids being thrown out of the house physical abuse ultimately the Bridgewater Rarit and Board voted 6 to2 with one abstension against repealing 5756 the matter is settled for now i'm Brenda Flanigan NJ Spotlight News