CALDWELL — A discussion about the Caldwell School District’s proposed gender identity and sexual orientation policy caused Monday night’s board meeting to end abruptly in chaos.

The proposed policy includes ways the district could make children feel more comfortable in school by adopting policies that allow them to use bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice and be addressed by their preferred pronouns.

However, the meeting ended abruptly when first-term Idaho state Sen. Chris Trakel, R-Caldwell, took the podium to comment. He began by stating that he was there to talk about the policy and he was there on his “official position.” Regarding the policy, the senator stated that, if it was enacted, it would put the children’s moral health and safety at risk.

“You will face litigation. ... You call that a threat, I’m telling you that is what will happen,” Trakel said. “It’s already happened in several states and there’s already been rulings on it. So, before you waste taxpayer money, before you put a kid in harm’s way, you better throw this policy out.”

Following that comment, Caldwell School District board chairperson Marisela Pesina tried to interject, but Trakel raised his voice and said he “had the floor.”

When he wouldn’t stop talking, Pesina moved to recess the meeting for not following protocol. Trakel continued yelling, his microphone was cut out and another board member moved to adjourn. When it was seconded, the meeting was ended.

At that time, the room exploded into commotion with people yelling that the board did not have the authority to end the meeting and booing the members.

It didn’t stop there. Many people repeatedly called board members’ names. Caldwell Police had to stand in front of board members as people were asked to leave the room, and then the majority of people there exited slowly and loudly. At one point, someone yelled that the board members were cowards and would face the consequences.

Prior to Trakel’s comments, the meeting was almost recessed several times when people wouldn’t stop applauding someone’s comments, spoke out of turn or yelled at the board. At one point, when three Caldwell students went up to speak in succession, people began complaining and the meeting was also almost adjourned.

The three students were in favor of the policy and spoke to being inclusive of all students in the district; a middle school student spoke out against it.

Kelsey Smith, a student in the district, said the district already has policies in place to protect the rights of students, regardless of gender identity.

“Accommodations to a transgender student is not special treatment; it is to respect them as people and their identity,” Smith said.

Nicolas Méndez said it is the district’s responsibility to protect students whose lived experiences may be different from their own.

“A powerful statement that I want to share is that the struggles that you don’t experience yourself doesn’t mean they don’t exist. ... We should be fighting for the rights of all people, even people that are different from yourself,” Méndez said.

At the onset of public commentary being opened up, Pesina prefaced that they would only allow comments to go on for an hour, the first speakers had to be living in the district and they would only be allowed three minutes each to talk. Several people who put their name on the docket were not Caldwell residents and not allowed to speak until the Caldwell residents had finished.

Most people who spoke were against the policy, but not all of them. Those opposed to the proposed policy made statements invoking God and condemning transgender people. Further, many people said the policy would violate God, the Constitution and hasten the destruction of the United States.

The discussion of the proposed policy was only one part of the agenda, but it took center stage. KTVB reached out to the school board for a comment earlier this month, and the director of communication for the district said the district understood the concerns from patrons.

“This is a proposed policy and is still being vetted. We are in the process of gathering input from patrons, administrators, and working with our attorney,” the spokesperson said in an email.

Idaho Press reporter Erin Banks Rusby contributed.