SIOUX CITY — Max Pospisil aspires to be a music teacher in the future, and started college coursework at Morningside University in Sioux City this fall semester to work towards that.
“I think I have finally started doing what I was meant to do,” Pospisil said.
Part of Pospisil’s coursework included observing a classroom, which is called a practicum. That was supposed to take place at the Sacred Heart middle school of the Bishop Heelan Catholic Schools system.
However, that practicum never took place.
Pospisil never heard directly from any official from that private school system as to the reasons for that, but learned of the practicum being called off from Morningside Professor Josh Nannestad.
“I went to his office and he told me that Bishop Heelan Schools have a, something that is called a transgender policy, and that states that there can be no staff members that are teachers, or student teachers or practicum student teachers that identify as transgender teaching in any of their schools. I am a transgender man, so that meant I couldn’t teach at all in their schools. I never saw the inside of that school,” Pospisil said.
Pospisil isn’t exactly sure how Sacred Heart officials knew he was transgender, since he never went to the school.
It is a misconception by some people that private schools in the United States don’t have to follow all the anti-discrimination laws that apply to public schools.
Both private and public schools are to comply with the Iowa Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in education on the basis of sex, gender identify and sexual orientation, but there are exceptions that have been carved out by state legislators.
Iowa’s Students First Act, signed into law by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds in 2023, respects those exceptions, as it began a program through which state monies eventually make their way to private school coffers.
The SFA states that it does not “require a nonpublic school to modify its academic standards for admission or education program in order to receive payment from a parent or guardian using funds” from the Education Savings Accounts, which are accounts created by the SFA. These accounts are held by pupils and families of pupils to receive public funding for education, which then can be paid for private school tuition.
“This is one of the exceptions to the anti-discrimination laws. So I wasn’t surprised, this happened to me once before. I also tried to be a camp counselor at a Christian Bible Camp, and I was turned away for similar reasons, which was frustrating. I wasn’t immediately super fired up and angry about this, but as I was talking to more and more people, and as I heard others’ disdain, I started to become more energetic about what had happened,” Pospisil said.
Bishop Heelan Catholic School officials did not respond to a multiple requests for comment.
The Bishop Heelan schools website says that they seek to “empower students to thrive in an ever-changing world,” as guided by six pillars. Those six are academic excellence, character development, spiritual growth, community engagement, leadership cultivation, and lifelong learning.
Lots of fellow students who are majoring in music education told Pospisil they were angered by the practicum being halted by the school, so that emboldened him to speak out for the first time publicly on the case.
Pospisil cited a recent bathroom use policy for K-12 Iowa public schools, which he lamented, as people somehow seeing dire circumstances that could happen when trans people use a toilet or wash their hands.
He said that he is considering lobbying lawmakers in the Iowa Legislature for changes that would recognize that more people are becoming transgender.
“I know that there isn’t any legal consequences for this action that they have chosen to take. But I would like to remind them, that I do not let myself get stepped on easily, and I will not allow them to walk all over me and have nothing come of it. People will know that you do this. It will not get swept under the rug,” Pospisil said.
Professor Nannestad said he only speaks for himself personally, not Morningside University. He said he is distressed that some of his students are welcome in Bishop Heelan schools and others are not.
“I live here in Sioux City and believe deeply in the concept of community. I am a teacher who is trained to teach whoever walks through my door, and I am a Christian who is commanded to welcome and care for the stranger. I invite my neighbors to join me in this challenge,” Nannestad said.
Morningside teaching student Pospisil said the Sacred Heart middle school pupils missed out on interacting with a driven future teacher who really loves music. He is even more sure of wanting to be a teacher after the new practicum placement at Unity Elementary School in the public Sioux City School District.
“Like it or not, trans people exist and we are going to exist. And if your students can’t deal with that, then that becomes dangerous, not just for people like me, but people like them. They have to learn how to deal, even if they don’t agree. I’m not telling everyone they need to agree with trans people, although I would like it. I’m not telling you what to believe, but you need to be able to coexist with me, and we need to be able to share the same space,” Pospisil said.
