A row has erupted at a school in Johannesburg following revelations that a pupil in the preparatory section is transgender, says a News24 report.

A group of ‘concerned parents’ of pupils attending Steyn City School penned a petition requesting that the school's management team reassess its policies on ‘biological males’ or transgender girls participating in girls' sports and using girls' bathrooms.

The document also urged school authorities ‘to ensure that discussions about gender identity or transgenderism are excluded from the classroom and left to the discretion of families’.

The petition also appealed to the school to remain neutral ‘by avoiding the display of politically charged symbols or flags within the school’, referencing the pride flag flown in October to observe Pride Month.

‘These parents do not care about science, evidence, or this child. They are deluding themselves and being dishonest. How can they try to interfere in the medical care and education of this child without even meeting them?’ said the African Trans+ Voices Alliance.

On 20 January, the school's management sent a letter to parents of pupils in the transgender pupil's class, which said, among other things, ‘I know that our parent body is strongly supportive of our inclusion policy and our Christian ethos.’

However, the petition stated that parents would like to express concern about the statement as it was an assumption and, ‘additionally, a transgender-inclusive policy should not be linked to a religious ethos’.

The petition stated that the issue of the transgender pupil ‘is predictably a difficult situation for the school to manage and will likely be a cause of differing opinions and conflict within the school community that the school management will have to deal with’.

It made mention of a ‘preliminary advisory’ released by the Health Professions Council of SA last year, which noted a concern about ‘the off-label drug use on children with gender dysphoria’.

Following queries forwarded to the school, the Steyn City School board yesterday sent a letter to parents stating that they ‘would not, do not and may not discriminate against any child on the basis of race, religion, culture, gender and ethnicity’.

‘We appreciate that parents who have raised concerns acknowledge that this matter is complex and sensitive and, likewise, we are managing this with due care and in a balanced and ethical way, carefully and objectively considering the rights and interests of every child on the campus.’

The News24 report says the letter – signed off by the chair of the board, Professor E Links – said there was no general legal duty on a parent to disclose medical information to a school and, therefore, parents were under no obligation to do so.

‘The school respects this and cannot adopt an approach that unjustifiably violates any child's right to privacy, equality, and/or dignity.’

Full News24 report