A Christian school banned a transgender student who decided that she wanted to transition from female to male while attending the school.
Tri-City Christian Academy (TCAA) told Maine student Stiles Zuschlag, born Alija Zuschlag, in August that she was no longer permitted to attend the academy, Zuschlag told SeaCoastOnline on Sunday. She said the school knew she was transgender but banned her from completing her senior year because she indicated that she intended on completing the transition to become a male and wished to be called a different name.
Zaschlag told the outlet that the school administer who delivered the news said she needed to stop testosterone treatment and seek counseling. She said that she was banned from the school and was not allowed to come onto campus grounds. “It’s a big loss, I mean they lost a big student,” she said according to the Associated Press.
The school did not operate outside its bounds, however. Religious schools are indeed allowed to ask students to leave for reasons they see fit regardless of whether they receive federal funds, New Hampshire District 2 Executive Councilor and education attorney Andru Volinsky said, according to Bangor Daily News. “In this day and age, the rights of a religious school are paramount to the rights of a student who goes there because the student always has the remedy of going to another school,” he said. TCAA does not receive any federal funding.
“To protect the privacy of our families, TCCA admissions decisions and any reasons for these various decisions, are not considered matters for public disclosure. Therefore, we have no comment,” the school administrator said.
Zaschlag transfered to Noble High School and will finish her high school education there. Her new school has also nominated her as “Prince of Homecoming.”
The Christian academy did not reply to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment in time for publication.
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