School Board Testimony: Danger in Highline Schools

The following Letter to the Editor was submitted by a verified Highline resident

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School Board Testimony: January, 7, 2026

We are living in interesting times. Some middle schools equip their bathrooms with litter boxes for students who identify as cats. Some high schools provide tampons in the boys’ bathrooms. These are examples of the extreme absurdities found throughout the country in today's public schools. Mothers are relabeled as “birthing persons,” diminishing the role of motherhood. As long as there have been humans, until recently, everyone knew that males were males and females were females. 

What is it that makes people today think they are smarter and better informed than all preceding generations? Highline School District encourages impressionable students to think they might have been born in the wrong body, and can change to the opposite sex.  Furthermore, their policy 3211 requires teachers to conceal this from the parents unless the child agrees to the disclosure. Allowing a child to make such a decision is unconscionable and illogical, given that the brain's frontal cortex (responsible for decision-making) is not fully developed until the mid-20s. 

Puberty blockers are being sold as a safe, time-out for cases of Gender Dysphoria, when a child does not identify with his or her biological sex. This is dangerous misinformation. Puberty blockers have their own harmful side effects, and 95% of children prescribed puberty blockers go on to cross-sex hormones. Females taking testosterone have a seven-fold higher rate of Erythrocytosis (increase in red blood cell concentration, which may increase the risk of blood clots leading to heart attack and stroke,)¹ as well as a three and one-half times increase in heart attacks.² 

Males taking estrogen double their risk of thyroid cancer³ and have a 48 fold increase in invasive breast cancer compared to men not taking estrogen.⁴  Highline School District policies are unethical experimentation on our children, at best, and institutionalized child abuse at the worst. Please contact your school board Directors and demand changes. SchoolBoardMembers@highlineschools.org

-By Alex Myrick, Master of Social Work, MSW-

¹ Okano SHP, Braga GC, Cantelli DAL, Filho L, Brito LGO, Lara L. "Effect of testosterone formulations on hematocrit in transgender individuals: A systematic review. Andrology. 2024
² Nota NM, Wiepjes CM, de Blok CJM, Gooren LJG, Kreukels BPC, den Heijer M. Occurrence of Acute Cardiovascular Events in Transgender Individuals Receiving Hormone Therapy. Circulation. 2019; 139(11): 1461-1462.
³ Meci A. Lorenz FJ, Goyal N, Goldenberg D. Elevated Risk of Thyroid Malignancy in Biological Males Taking Estrogen Hormone Therapy. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2025.
⁴ de Blok CJM, Wiepjes CM, Nota NM, et al
Breast cancer risk in transgender people receiving hormone treatment: nationwide cohort study in the Netherlands. BMJ. 2019; 365: 1652.

[NOTE FROM EDITOR:  If you wish to submit a story, photo, article or letter, please email us at info@thehighlinejournal.com  Even if you wish to remain anonymous, please include your name and phone number so we may contact you privately. We look forward to hearing from you.]