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ST. CHARLES COUNTY — National and state groups on Friday targeted the Francis Howell School District’s new policy of restricting gender discussions between students and teachers.

In a statement Friday, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a national nonprofit that advocates for separation of church and state, warned the policy violates state and federal provisions.

The conservative majority on Francis Howell’s school board approved the policy on Thursday. It says discussions of gender identity or adopting a gender other than a person’s “biological sex/gender” is considered a “subset of human sexuality” and therefore inappropriate to discuss with students without prior parental consent.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation described the move as an imposition of the board’s collective religious beliefs onto the district.

“Transgender rights are serving as a proxy war for Christian nationalist ideals surrounding gender roles and bodily autonomy,” said the foundation’s Equal Justice Works fellow Kat Grant in a statement. “But to go after queer kids, who are still figuring things out, and are more likely to be bullied by their peers anyways? That’s a different kind of animus and hatred.”

The gender discussion policy was also opposed by PROMO, a statewide LGBTQ advocacy and lobbying nonprofit organization in Missouri.

Spokesperson Robert Fischer said Friday the policy would restrict students’ ability to confide in trusted adults about complicated issues.

“A lot of LGBTQ students need to practice the conversation they’re about to have with their parents, and sometimes that is with a trusted adult that happens to be a teacher,” Fischer said.

In a letter sent Thursday to Board President Adam Bertrand, the foundation also warned against a policy the board is considering that would require transgender students to use restrooms or locker rooms that align with the sex listed on their birth certificates.

The board was set to vote on that policy Thursday night but took it off the agenda nearly as soon as the meeting started.

Board Treasurer Jane Puszkar brought the issue back after it was tabled nine months ago following a legal threat. On Monday, after Puszkar said the policy had undergone multiple legal reviews, at least one parent renewed a threat of legal action if the policy is put up for a final vote.

“It’s unnecessary and discriminatory,” the parent, Becky Hormuth, said in an interview on Monday. “It’s an all-around disgusting policy.”

Puszkar told the Post-Dispatch the policy was again postponed due to a “timing issue.” She said the policy had not gone through the board’s policy committee, and “it shows goodwill to do so.”

The committee had not met for over a year due to personnel changes, Puskar said. It’s unclear why the policy was put on Thursday night’s agenda in the first place.

But parents and supporters of LGBTQ+ students still saw the night as a loss.

“You’re putting a child in a situation where they could not get the help they potentially need,” parent Will Robinette said.

The changes were supported by conservative political action committee Francis Howell Families, which argued the board had moved to shield students from “partisan agendas.” The PAC supported the elections of five of the seven board members.

“We believe that these measures not only uphold our community’s values but also prioritize the well-being and academic growth of our children,” the group said in a statement.

Thursday marked a night of major wins for the board’s conservative majority. In addition to the gender discussions policy, the board also passed measures to restrict materials perceived as explicit from library shelves.

One would bar books that mention drug misuse, profanity or violence in certain cases, with the board the final arbiter of what’s considered excessive or unnecessary.

Another policy would introduce a 16-step process for any resident or employee of the district to challenge library or classroom books believed to be “obscene,” “pervasively vulgar” or lack “educational suitability.”

“Why do school board members have more power over what I can read than my own parents,” said Harper Schneider, a junior at Francis Howell North.

District librarians have warned the policies could lead to the removal of popular books including “The Hunger Games,” “Of Mice and Men” and the “Harry Potter” series.

Comments at the board meeting Thursday varied from either passionate praise or criticism of the board.

Kirk Wolf, a Francis Howell Families supporter, said most librarians exercise good judgment. But to some librarians, he said, “there is no such thing as a child too young to be given extremely sexually explicit materials.”

“These individuals are protected and encouraged by a few woke ideologues in our administration who also control the makeup of the book challenge committee,” Wolf said.

He then read aloud a rape scene from the book “Crank,” a 2004 novel about one girl’s addiction to crystal meth. The book was previously challenged in the Rockwood School District, but a challenge committee ultimately opted to keep the book, as it was

Shana Youngdahl, a local author and district parent, described the library policy revisions as “unnecessary and unwanted.”

“We need to let educators do their jobs,” Youngdahl said.