Questions on school female athlete questionnaire raise privacy concerns
MIAMI - Female High School Athletes could soon be mandated to fill out how often they menstruate if the Florida High School Athletic Association approves a new physical evaluation form.
Previously, that information was optional to fill out, but following Florida's ban on transgender females playing sports at public schools, some are questioning whether a new draft of the form is aimed at transgender students and raising privacy concerns.
Questions on the form now currently include: what is the first menstrual period, to the most recent, and how long between each one, but no answer is required.
The new draft asks what sex was assigned at birth and the menstrual questions are part of the medical section, it doesn't indicate they are optional for any specific gender.
"The form that asks when girls start their period and how often they have it, to me seems like a continuation of this effort by Florida to regulate children's bodies," Michele Drucker said. She's a mom of three, one of whom is now a transgender woman.
Drucker thinks everyone should be concerned about the intrusion of privacy.
"I would ask, what is the business of the government to ask about your menstrual cycle because the harm clearly outweighs any benefit, which they haven't explained. What is the possible need to know this information? Especially because it's going to be uploaded and easily data mined or could be part of a data breach," Drucker said.
She feels parents should be able to opt their children out of answering such questions.
"You shouldn't preclude participation in a sport because a child has not provided information about their menstrual cycle," she said.
But that's currently not an option on the draft form. CBS4 reached out to the FHSAA for comment but as of this publication has yet to hear back.
We also reached out to Broward and Miami-Dade County Public Schools, MDCPS told us they are still waiting on a finalized version before they can make an assessment.
FHSAA is expected to approve a final form at the end of February.
The Florida Department of Education is currently reviewing the newly released AP African American Studies framework for corrections and compliance with Florida law.
