During Tuesday night’s meeting, the Board of Education approved a resolution regarding the signage of the private toilet room bathroom design in the new and renovated buildings. Before I get into the details of the resolution, let me offer a reminder about some of the background information.
The private toilet room design is currently in use at Barrington, Greensview, Tremont and Wickliffe. This design will also be available in the new high school and Windermere when those projects are completed this summer. The private toilet rooms are just that - actual separate rooms with full walls and a full, locking door. Because they are private rooms, they can be used by anyone and are considered a “gender neutral” or “all gender” design. It’s also important to note that all of these buildings have gender-specific restrooms available, too.
This style of bathrooms was prioritized for several reasons. The first and most obvious reason is the additional privacy. I think it’s safe to say that everyone prefers restroom privacy, and of course, that can be extremely important for some of our students who deal with anxiety or medical issues. This bathroom design also helps with what we call “potty parity,” which is just a fun way of saying it prevents there being a line for one gender while restrooms sit open for another. The all-gender design is also more practical and safer. It is easier for staff to supervise students when all of the students are in the same general area, which is of course not possible when students leave to go to two separate restroom areas. And, when we have students who are questioning their assigned gender or sex or who identify differently than their assigned gender or sex, they are able to use the restroom without added stress for themselves or their classmates.
This style of restroom meets the requirements in the International Building Code, and we believe it also meets the requirements of the Ohio Building Code. However, officials with the City of Upper Arlington recently informed us that they have a different interpretation of Ohio Building Code than we do, and they feel that at least some of our “all gender” signs must be changed to gender specific signs by the end of the month.
During Tuesday’s meeting, the Board approved a resolution that did several things.
It reaffirmed the Board’s belief that the private, all-gender restroom design is the right choice for our students and our schools.
It directed us as staff members to “perform those tasks necessary to comply with the City’s directives regarding gender-specific restroom signage…” while incorporating “all-gender restrooms within the District’s school buildings to the greatest extent permissible.”
It reaffirmed the Board’s intention to maintain its current appeal regarding bathroom signage that is pending in the Tenth District Court of Appeals. (You can read more background on this in my note from October.)
It also confirmed that as we implement the changes in this directive from the City, we will continue to follow the law and our Board policies regarding anti-harrassment, bullying and Title IX, including but not limited to providing accommodations to our transgender students.
So, in summary, the Board has reaffirmed its position in support of the private, gender-neutral bathroom design but directed us to comply with the City’s directive regarding the signage while we continue to pursue an appeal in the court system. We will work with City officials to determine the number of signs that they feel need to be changed, and then we will order those signs and install them after the last day of school.