RioSlum Studio

Updated – August 21, 2023

A resident in the Central Lincoln County School System (CLCSS) filed a lawsuit against the district for allegedly helping her daughter sexually transition without parental knowledge or consent. 

In January 2023, the School Board Watchlist reported that CLCSS mom, Amber Lavigne, confronted district leaders during a board meeting. A school counselor at Great Salt Bay Community School (GSBCS), later identified as Samuel Roy, was accused of coaching her daughter to hide her transition.

News Center Maine said, “According to the lawsuit, Lavigne alleges a school counselor gave her 13-year-old chest binders, which are garments used to compress a person’s chest and make it appear flatter. Lavigne also claims the school counselor allowed her child to use a male name, male pronouns and told the child not to tell her mother.”

Lavigne released a statement to News Center through her attorneys that said,

“This is no accident: my daughter’s public school counselor deliberately tried to keep me in the dark, encouraging my daughter’s gender transition and encouraging her to hide it from me.”

She further stated that district officials defended the counselor’s conduct and stated that “the secrecy needs to stop.”

Lavigne’s attorney told News Center:

“What we’re saying, is that once school officials take an active step with regards to any sort of decision that directly affects the mental health or physical wellbeing of a child, they must tell parents. But it’s only once the school officials take some sort of affirmative step on their end, with respect to a child.”

In June, GSBCS admitted to providing Lavigne’s daughter with chest binders. Maine Wire said the school “denies that the binder was given in secret” and “parents do not have a constitutionally protected right to be informed by government-run schools about vital aspects of their children’s lives…”

Maine Wire also stated that Lavigne “was never informed that Roy was coaching her daughter on how to compress her breasts and disguise the female attributes for her body.” 

As of publication, Maine Wire reported, “Roy remains an employee at GSBCS and…[probably won’t] “face discipline for his conduct with regard to Lavigne’s daughter.”

Published – January 19, 2023

Central Lincoln County School System (CLCSS) AOS93 made headlines when a student from Great Salt Bay Community School started to sexually transition without parental knowledge or consent. 

According to The Maine Wire, the student’s mom, Amber Lavigne, “demanded the resignation of several public school officials at a [December 2022] school board meeting following her discovery that a school social worker had begun secretly transitioning her 13-year-old daughter’s gender.”

The Maine Wire also reported, “…Lavigne said a CLCSS social worker at Great Salt Bay Community School provided a chest binder to her daughter — a gender transitioning device the employee encouraged the young girl to keep secret from her parents.”

Per VeryWellHealth.com, “Chest [or breast] binding is the practice of using tight clothing or other items to flatten the breasts. The goal is to create a more masculine chest. Transmasculine people — those assigned female at birth who identify on the masculine spectrum — use chest binding to feel more comfortable in their body…Chest binding is an important part of gender expression for some transmasculine people.”

The site does not provide official sources for its statistical information but states, “Many struggle with chest dysphoria — extreme distress and discomfort caused by having breasts. Chest dysphoria is thought to play a role in the high rates of suicide among transmasculine teens and young adults.”

At the school board meeting, Lavigne spoke during public comments:

“On Friday, December 2, we discovered a chest binder in my barely 13-year-old’s bedroom…It was revealed to us that the binder was given to her by the district social worker…without our permission. Our child was originally assigned to another social worker employed at her school. When the new social worker took her into their supposed care in mid-October, we were never informed of this change…”

She continued,

“In my initial meeting with administrators regarding this heinous act, they expressed great concern…To our understanding, this person was not fired…A social worker at the school encouraged a student to keep a secret from their parents. This is the very definition of child predatory sexual grooming.”

Board Chair Samuel Belknap released the following public statement:

Central Lincoln County School Systems  – Great Salt Bay Community School – has 383 students enrolled in grades K-8.