School districts often get caught in the middle of polarizing issues. The matter of transgender students and bathrooms has been one such example, generating a recent spate of lawsuits as opinions clashed and tempers flared.
School districts often get caught in the middle of polarizing issues. The matter of transgender students and bathrooms has been one such example, generating a recent spate of lawsuits as opinions clashed and tempers flared. Amid all this, a Kansas City-area district has come up with what looks like a plausible and fairly simple solution: gender-neutral bathrooms where students of either sex may enter. Inside, individual, lockable stalls with floor-to-ceiling walls provide the students with privacy. Hand washing is done in a common area outside the stalls.
The decision to try out the gender-neutral bathroom concept was made by a committee of district parents and students. So far, the arrangement has worked well, and people are happy with it. Teachers say it makes policing bathrooms easier because they can monitor students from the common sink area. Students, regardless of sex/gender identity, say they feel more secure because of the private stalls. District officials say the concept is going into all new construction and is being retrofit into some existing facilities.
Gender-neutral bathrooms might not be the solution for all schools, but it’s a step in the right direction when people, rather than being combative, come together, collaborate and implement plans that work for their particular schools and kids. We could use more of that.
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In my mind, this time of the year always brings some reflection. As you wind down and then start a fresh calendar year, there are always items you find you will never repeat as well as those you want to introduce.
The U.S. District Court, Northern District of Oklahoma, has dismissed the federal claims against Caney Valley Schools and denied the motion for a permanent injunction with respect to the school district’s refusal to allow a senior student to wear an eagle feather in her graduation cap Griffith v. Caney Valley Pub. Schs., 15-CV-273-GKF-FHM (N.D. Okla. 01/05/16).
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