What Does the Additional Gender Options Setting Do?

The setting is disabled by default. Enabling the setting allows SWIS users to select from three gender options instead of the default two. The three options are:

• Male
• Female
• Non-Binary/Transgender/Other

To enable the setting, you must be either a SWIS admin user or a SWIS facilitator.

1. Click Tools then School Settings.
2. Click General under the Applications menu.
3. Click anywhere in the User Additional Gender Options row to expand the setting options.
4. Select Yes from the drop-down menu.
5. Click Save to enable the setting or Cancel to return to the list.
6. Click Save to confirm enabling the setting or Cancel to return to the list.

Once enabled, you cannot disable this option without a phone call to PBISApps Support, so click wisely.

Some states require districts include a third gender option on school forms. For these schools, the new setting makes the SWIS Suite compliant with their district’s requirements. For schools outside of these states, the setting is still available in their account. We suggest, before schools select “yes” on this new setting, they check to see how this third gender option aligns with any reporting they do out of the SWIS Suite. 

Here are some things think about.

• Does your school report to the district or state using SWIS reports with student gender displayed? If the answer is yes, and your state or district does not recognize a third gender, enabling the setting now will require your school to go back and assign either male or female to students identified by a third gender in the SWIS Suite before reporting out of the application.
• Does your school integrate your student information system (SIS) data with SWIS using DataLink? If the answer is yes, and the SIS has a third gender option as well, contact your DataLink support team member for more information on how to take full advantage of this new setting.

Ultimately, if there are no barriers at the state or district level, and no integrations affected by an additional gender option, and your school is excited about enabling the setting, do it! 

Adding a third gender option in the SWIS Suite extends your commitment to inclusion and equity in everything you do.