The New York State Department of Education took an important step this summer by publishing its first guidelines to help schools uphold the rights and address the needs of transgender students.

Transgender students make up a small portion of the student population — less than 1 percent nationally by many estimates — but their presence can raise big questions, including some that may touch on politically sensitive issues.

As a recent Atlantic magazine article said, “Schools are becoming ground zero for clashes over transgender rights.”

Transgender students in at least three states — Maine, Colorado and Virginia — have, for example, sued over issues surrounding which bathrooms they are able to use.

The court rulings in these cases have generally upheld the same principles outlined in New York’s new guidelines. Transgender students must be allowed to use bathrooms conforming to their gender identity rather than their sex at birth.

New York further says that schools should make single unisex bathrooms and private changing spaces available to students who request them, but should never force such facilities upon students.

The state’s new guidelines also say that teachers and school officials should assent to a transgender student’s request to be called by a different name, changing it from, say, Donald to Denise.

The new guidelines are available online on the State Education Department’s website and will also from now on be incorporated into the training required under New York’s anti-discrimination law, the Dignity for All Students Act [see "Support for transgender students addressed in training"]. That will help this information get to the UFT members serving the 1.1 million children in New York City public schools.

Transgender students sometimes do not feel accepted by their own families. They have higher rates of homelessness, school failure and suicide than their peers.

The state’s guidance will help educators in their work to ensure that our schools offer an environment conducive to learning, where all students — including those who are transgender — feel safe, comfortable and respected.