Gibraltar Area School Board Asks for Revisions of Gender Rules for Restrooms

An aerial view of the Gibraltar School campus. Photo by Brett Kosmider.

Committee members hear concerns, ask for more-definite policy language

Hearing district residents’ and parents’ accusations about “vague” guidelines, the Gibraltar Area School Board delayed a vote Monday on nondiscrimination policies pertaining to students’ ability to choose restrooms based on their gender identity rather than their gender at birth.

Board member Drew Richmond withdrew an earlier motion to approve the nondiscrimination policies and said he wanted to delay a vote until May 22, after revisions are made. 

Taking public comments to heart, Richmond said he had second thoughts about language that labeled portions of the policy as “guidelines” that maybe don’t need to be followed. However, he said he did not completely disagree with a portion of the proposed policy that stated that “the district may deviate” from “guidelines” within the policy – because a scenario or scenarios could arise that aren’t covered by the policy.

Two district residents warned the board that they believed the district could be liable if there were a sexual assault after the district erringly allowed a violent boy to use restrooms traditionally assigned to girls. A transgender district resident informed the board that there is a significant-sized minority of the transgender community that does not believe in allowing students to choose restrooms other than those matching their gender at birth.

Former board member Angela Sherman echoed the sentiments of a parent of an LBGTQ student and that parent’s Gibraltar High student, who identified himself as a part of the LBGTQ community, who both spoke at the meeting and thanked the board for standing against discrimination and working on this policy. Sherman asserted that she is glad that Gibraltar stands for inclusion and welcoming of all students, and she said she knows the public has difficulty accepting change and shedding discriminatory traits.

“The change that is unnecessary for some is the change that is absolutely necessary for these students,” Sherman said. “We need to ensure that our school creates a diverse, inclusive and equitable learning environment.”

Patrick Voight, a parent of three girls in the school system, said he opposed weaker language in the policy, such as “may” rather than “shall,” and questioned the usefulness of a policy that contains guidelines from which the district could deviate. 

Ed House, too, opposed the majority of the policy language, given its reliance on guidelines rather than formalized policy with legal accountability.

“Guidelines – even the guidelines within these policies – are mere recommendations, with absolutely no legal binding,” House said.

Voight also questioned another portion of the policy that said that he, as a parent, “may” be notified if his child makes a decision on a changed gender identity and requests reassignment for restroom use.

“How am I supposed to make those decisions on what’s best for my kid? No offense to any of you here. You wouldn’t want me, probably, making decisions for your kid,” Voight said. “If I don’t know about it, how am I supposed to help my kid?”

Voight said he understood the board feeling pressure to provide gender-neutral facilities and student choice of access to either the boys’ or girls’ rooms as the district moves to adhere to a U.S. 7th Circuit case in a circuit that covers Wisconsin. But he said no other Door County schools, to his knowledge, are considering such policies and that other regions of the nation are following different precedents and guidance. Voight said higher courts could rule on cases that could create new precedents, and Wisconsin legislators are considering bills to address these topics.

The district’s Policy Committee has been looking at the policy for months in anticipation of designing restrooms and locker rooms for an impending construction project. Board member Karen Nordahl said the goal is to protect students and families, and she appreciated the input from the public and was glad to have the committee reconsider the policy’s language. 

She disputed some claims that a nondiscrimination policy was to blame for some highly publicized events in restrooms at schools. She said in one publicized case in Sun Prairie, where a boy wearing a skirt assaulted a girl, the district did not have a policy, and the boy, who was often in trouble, had scheduled a “meetup” with the girl.

“We’re taking into account the needs of all students – every student,” Nordahl said. “Every student under these policies would be provided a private option. Any student, if they’re not comfortable, for any reason, would have access to a space where they have the degree of privacy that they need.”