Parents Outraged to Find New Minnesota School Has No Girls Bathroom

Architects discussed design details for a new elementary school in the White Bear Lake district two summers ago — right down to the placement of light switches. They shared specific details with parents so when students moved into the new building this fall, there would be “no surprises.”

They apparently omitted one detail that has shocked parents and students alike: Separate “boys” and “girls” bathrooms in the new school have been replaced with gender-neutral “privacy bathrooms.”

When the newly-constructed North Star Elementary School opened last month, many students and parents discovered “privacy bathrooms” mean elementary boys and girls use the same stalls in a common bathroom along with a common area for hand-washing.

The bathrooms consist of single toilets, floor-to-ceiling coverage, and doors with a latch that indicates whether or not the stall is occupied.

The change to gender-neutral bathrooms most likely was done to comply with White Bear Lake’s districtwide “Administrative Guidelines for Transgender and Gender-Expansive Student Rights and Protections.” The policy addresses “the needs and concerns of transgender and gender-expansive students to ensure safe, supportive, and healthy school environments where every child can learn.”

“Pursuant to state law, students shall have access to the restroom that corresponds to their gender identity asserted at school,” says the policy, which includes similar language for locker room access.

Gender-neutral bathrooms are one of the changes funded by the largest building referendum ever passed by voters in state history. Moms in the White Bear Lake district weren’t happy when they found out their little girls would be forced to use the same bathroom as boys.

Several North Star moms who contacted Principal Dan Schmidt told Alpha News he assured them he is working on a solution.

“The first go at fixing [it] did not work. So I did email again, and he assured me he has another idea … this will be put into place hopefully next week. I do not know what the plan is, but he did say he would keep me in the loop,” said one mom, who asked to remain anonymous…. (Excerpt from The Star News Network)