The MSAD 52 board of directors on Thursday approved a motion directing the superintendent to make staff and faculty guidelines that pertain to students and parents available in the district's student and family handbook on the district website.

Supporters said the move is intended to increase transparency after the discovery and circulation of a document described in public comment as a district'level transgender guidance. The board discussion included multiple public speakers who urged broader access to materials they said should be available to parents.

Board member Anthony Shostak, who made the original motion, said the change would prevent repeated public-record requests and reduce the appearance that significant guidance is being kept from families. "I don't think it, I don't think it hurts anything to say this is what we're guiding the teachers to do with regard to whatever particular topic," Shostak said during debate.

In public comment before the vote, resident Diane Rimes praised Shostak and urged transparency: "Transparency equals trust," she told the board. Crystal Nicholas, another resident who addressed the board, described parents' difficulty locating a transgender-guidance document and asked how parents were supposed to find materials described as hidden: "I want to thank the board for taking up the issue of newly discovered MSAD 52 transgender guidelines and making that available to the public," Nicholas said.

Superintendent Carrie (first name only in the public record) told the board she would place documents that relate to students in the student/family handbook and link them on the website, and that she would consult principals about which materials fit that definition. She noted the district already posts a parent handbook online and said the handbook would be a logical place for the student-facing guidance.

The board first removed the motion from the table, then approved an amendment limiting required postings to guidelines that "pertain to students" and directing that those documents be included in the student handbook on the website. The board later amended that language to specify "students and parents." The final motion as amended was approved at the meeting.

The record shows the action was a board directive to the superintendent: the vote resulted in approval of the motion as amended. The transcript does not record a detailed roll-call tally in a format that could be transcribed conclusively here; the minutes should be consulted for the official vote count and wording of the final motion.

Why it matters: Board members and several public commenters said putting student-facing guidelines on the website would reduce surprises for families and ease public access; opponents and some board members raised concerns about scope and how to avoid publishing confidential or operational staff-only materials. The superintendent told the board she would prioritize student-facing documents and consult principals to avoid posting confidential staff information.

What comes next: The superintendent will post documents deemed student-facing in the student/family handbook area of the district website and consult principals about items that might require additional review. The board did not adopt new policy language; it issued a direction to the superintendent to publish existing student-related guidance online.