In my experience, the situation created significant tension as I was navigating policies and expectations that conflicted with my personal beliefs and professional judgment

Exactly what kind of “professional judgment” does a teacher bring to this situation? Unless they’re being consulted about a puberty issue, a student being transgender shouldn’t make a difference in how a teacher teaches them, right? Or is she implying that being a teacher makes her more knowledgable about gender, somehow?

If she were the school psychologist, I might buy that she has “professional judgment” worth valuing. But for a teacher (especially one who goes on to appeal to religion in the very next sentence), it sounds like weasel words that were tacked on. She probably knew that simply saying her “personal beliefs” caused her conflict would’ve sounded too weak as an argument. So, she put in the empty phrase “professional judgment,” knowing full well that she won’t get called out on it by anyone with power.