A science teacher with Kansas City Public Schools says she has no intention of stopping her use of students’ preferred names and pronouns, even as the district faces the possible loss of federal funding over the practice.
Courtney Richardson, who has taught in Unified School District 500 since 2019, wrote in a Facebook post Friday that she considers herself a “PROUD ally in all of the spaces that I am in.”
“If your child was born Nicole, and one day they ask me to call them Nick so they feel more comfortable, then I am going to call them Nick and keep it moving,” Ms. Richardson wrote. “That is not indoctrination. That is a teacher being a safe place for ALL kids. Period.”
Ms. Richardson went on to push back on parents who have criticized the district’s pronoun practices, writing that many parents don’t respond when she calls home about grades or behavior, and questioning why pronoun use draws more outrage than reading proficiency or unsupervised use of artificial intelligence. According to her LinkedIn page, she previously worked as a community organizer for the Kansas Democratic Party in 2018, Fox News reported.
A KCKPS spokesperson told Fox News Digital, “Since this is a personnel matter, KCKPS can not comment at this time.” On the district’s staff directory, Ms. Richardson is listed as a science teacher.
Her comments come as Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools faces mounting federal pressure. The Department of Education determined in April that the district — along with Olathe, Shawnee Mission and Topeka public schools — had policies violating the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act by shielding students’ gender transitions from parents. The department said Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools denied investigators access to information in violation of federal law, separate from a broader finding that the four districts had failed to provide sufficient documentation on their gender-identity policies. The department also found Kansas City, Kansas and Topeka in violation of Title IX over policies allowing students to use restrooms and locker rooms based on gender identity rather than sex.
After the district failed to reach a voluntary resolution agreement, the Education Department announced a formal partnership with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division on June 30 to pursue enforcement, which could include litigation and the loss of federal funding. The department said the blatant refusal to acknowledge parental rights will not be tolerated.
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