LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Jefferson County Board of Education is moving forward with a plan to implement Senate Bill 150 policies at Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) this school year. It's a plan they said protects transgender kids while still following state law.

The board met Monday evening to talk about how the district will incorporate the state law dealing with sex education and gender identity. The district has gone back and forth on two policy versions, but discussed a new, third version.

While students head back to class on Wednesday, Aug. 9, the school board had a deadline of next Tuesday, Aug. 15, to pass some type of policy. 

The district has faced criticism from state Republican lawmakers and pleas to not enforce the law by protesters. 

SB 150 bans gender-affirming care for transgender youth, bans schools from requiring staff to use a student's preferred pronouns, and limits the teaching of certain sex-related topics.

"The board has an obligation as a state actor to implement state law," said Kevin Brown, an attorney for JCPS.

The third policy version discussed Monday includes a "statement of concern" written by JCPS about the negative consequences of the bill. It states that misgendering students may violate the Educational Professional Standards Board Code of Ethics and constitute sexual harassment under Title IX, which may subject an employee to disciplinary action.

SB 150 also requires school policies on bathrooms, locker rooms and showers, requiring students to use bathrooms based off their sex assigned at birth. But the district's lawyer, Brown, found a way around that for trans students.

New to the third policy version is establishing gender dysphoria as a disability and entitles students to an individualized education plan, such as an IEP or 504, which by law require schools to make accommodations for students. As an example, JCPS said schools could allow students access to a certain restroom. 

Gender dysphoria "refers to psychological distress that results from an incongruence between one's sex assigned at birth and one's gender identity," according to the American Psychiatric Association. "Though gender dysphoria often begins in childhood, some people may not experience it until after puberty or much later."

"While it protects the small group of people, it's not going to protect all transgender youth and not all non-gender conforming youth that we need to protect," said Z Haukeness, an activist who identifies as trans, and protested JCPS compliance with SB 150.

"I do believe we've taken version three as far as we can take it under the parameters of Senate Bill 150," Brown said.

The board previously discussed two other versions of policies, but ultimately voted in favor of the third version Monday evening.

The board does intend to revisit the policy as JCPS attorneys believe court rulings will strike down or change parts of SB 150. The district expects those rulings to come down in October, and will see how it can change or improve its policy. The board made a motion that when those decisions come, it will be required to meet within two weeks to address any changes.

"Getting to a point where we are able to follow Senate Bill 150 but take every step we can possibly take to protect our students," Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio said.

JCPS, like many other districts, struggled to come up with a policy as lawsuits challenging the new law play out in court, and as Attorney General Daniel Cameron and the Kentucky Department of Education offer differing opinions on what to do with it. 

Cameron called the Kentucky Department of Education's interpretation of the law "flawed," and that school districts need to implement the law as intended.  

The KDE issued guidance in June, saying lawmakers' use of the word "or" instead of "and" in some of the law's language meant districts could choose what to enforce. Cameron issued a 13-page opinion saying that guidance is wrong. He said districts don't have an option, and must enforce all parts of the law.

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