CPS Will Continue Collecting Data on Transgender Students Identities, Despite Federal Pushback

As the Trump administration rolls back protections for LGBTQ individuals, CPS Interim Superintendent David G. Murphy said district surveys will continue to recognize transgender and LGBTQ identities.

“Trying to administer surveys for performative reasons or political reasons, essentially poisons the data that you’re collecting, rendering the surveys less useful,” Murphy said.

On the day of his inauguration, President Donald Trump signed an executive order recognizing only two sexes. As a result, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Census Bureau stopped collecting data on gender identity in several federal surveys.

“We’re six weeks in — the world is getting crueler each day,” Harding said.

At Tuesday’s School Committee meeting, committee member Rachel B. Weinstein raised concerns about the “very disturbing message at the top of the federal page recognizing only two sexes as biologically correct.”

Her concerns came after the committee reviewed data from the 2024 Teen & Middle Grades Health Survey, which showed that outcomes for transgender or gender diverse and LGBTQ students were “less favorable across most indicators.”

“Will Cambridge commit to continuing to collect this critical life saving data so that we know what our young people need, so that we can deliver what it needs?” Weinstein asked.

Murphy said the district has a “moral commitment” to recognize and record the demographic groups of its student population.

“We will continue to insist on being an inclusive, welcoming community and educational community that commits to empathy and rejects cruelty, but we’re also committed to common sense,” Murphy said.

“The district will not be modifying either our values or policies in response to incoherent guidance from other levels of government,” he added.

During the same meeting, the School Committee voted against a motion to “reaffirm the educational priorities of CPSD,” noting concerns that the vague wording in the motion document could be misinterpreted.

The resolution, introduced by School Committee members Elizabeth C.P. Hudson and Richard Harding, Jr., instructs the district to affirm “its commitment to an education system that prioritizes academic and skilled technical/trade excellence and career readiness, without being swayed by shifting political mandates or ideological trends.”

Hudson said the resolution would enable the committee to focus on student education instead of constantly reacting to news out of the White House, considering the minimal federal funding the district receives.

“We could push back on every headline,” she said. “But every minute spent on politics, especially politics that don’t impact us, is a minute not spent on improving the education that we're providing.”

Harding offered a different perspective, saying that the district must double down on their prioritization of academic excellence precisely because its students could be impacted by federal policies.

Beyond Hudson and Harding’s differing views on the importance of the resolution, residents said they were concerned the resolutions could be misinterpreted.

“It can be interpreted in a way as to end the anti-racist social justice for teaching that our students currently receive,” resident Carrie Young said. “It needs to be explicit that this is not the intent of the school committee.”

School Committee member David J. Weinstein, one of the four members to vote against the resolution, said he did not think the resolution was “fully clear.”

Despite voting against the motion the committee reiterated its dedication to upholding Cambridges values in the face of shifting federal policy.

Cambridge Mayor E. Denise Simmons said she believes the School Committee should “stand behind representation for all in the city that's supposed to be free and fair,” as the federal government continues to threaten K-12 education.

“We have a — certainly — have a fight on our hands,” she said. “I could not think of a better place to be fighting than this place here, because we do believe in values, and we do believe in standing for people.”

—Staff writer Ayaan Ahmad can be reached at ayaan.ahmad@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @AyaanAhmad2024.

—Staff writer Claire A. Michal can be reached at claire.michal@thecrimson.com.