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Schools Not Required to Notify Parents If Child Identifies as Transgender, New Jersey Says

LGBT advocates are celebrating the new state guidance, saying it puts New Jersey among the national leaders in protecting transgender students from unaccepting or abusive parents.

By Adam Clark

It's one of the most delicate and potentially combustible questions schools can face. 

A teenager confides in a teacher that he or she is transgender and wants to transition at school without any family finding out about it. 

Should the school call the student's parents? And, if it does, what happens if mom and dad say no?

After years of school officials using their own best judgment, New Jersey has weighed in, siding with students and telling schools they must allow kids to change genders -- even if their parents don't know about or don't want it to happen. 

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