By Tessa Rendina

Video posted by Anne Arundel County Public Schools

The Chesapeake Regional Association of Student Councils (CRASC) President and Arundel senior, Scott Howarth, responded to comments opposing the new policy on transgender students and their ability to use certain bathrooms, on September 7^th last week.

Opponents of the rule, including the county council and local leaders, are concerned it is unfair to the majority of students.  The new guidelines are being held currently, until the Supreme Court makes a decision on a case of a transgender teen in Virginia. The Board of Education, including President Stacy Korbelak, are in support of Scott Howarth and the other students involved in CRASC.

“Back in 2013, CRASC started the conversation about LGBT discrimination issues in our schools. We believed that any student regardless of their sexual preference and gender identity should be treated equal,” Scott Howarth said in an interview with The Pulse last Friday.

“Currently we are discussing the transgender guidelines and the new calendar in the executive order from Governor Hogan,”  Scott said. CRASC has been involved in other rules as well, such as the development of quarterly assessments and even voting in a Student Board Member who has voting rights throughout the state.

Howarth has been a member of CRASC for seven years and the elected President for two. The Arundel senior is also involved in student government association (SGA), the SGA for the class of 2017, Athletic Leadership Council, and is a Varsity Golf Captain.  He is planning on double majoring in computer science and political science at the University of Maryland.  He discussed the impact of the student government on himself as “[helping him] learn how to work with others and about the local political process.”

“I like that students get to voice their opinions and have a say in policies that directly affect them,” he said.