EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The Edwardsville School District voted to approve gender-neutral bathrooms Monday at the board meeting.
The school board said they’ve gotten a lot of feedback from the community about the bathrooms. Some are not in favor of the $6.8 million remodel.
“Using our tax money, money that I earn, to do something I oppose, it’s just so wrong. Shouldn’t even be a consideration; it’s wasting the public’s time,” one speaker said.
The current renderings show the plans for the bathrooms, with each stall fully enclosed and a common handwashing station at the center. Each stall has dedicated lighting and a locking system indicating whether it is vacant or occupied.
“This is an excellent opportunity to validate (transgender students) as they are,” another speaker said. “To make education a safe space for them, I commend the board on moving forward with this.”
Keith St. Pierre, an Edwardsville District 7 parent, has concerns about the bathroooms. The district said renovation plans are already happening in the commons area right next to the bathrooms, which is why they began looking at different designs.
“You give a boy an opportunity like this. They already have issues at the high school with boys and girls trying to attend the same bathroom together for reasons that my 11-year-old doesn’t need to talk about or hear about at this point in time,” parent Keith St. Pierre said.
“The bathrooms that are in question have been some of the most talked-about spaces in the high school from a safety perspective and a functionality, usability. So, we decided that was a great time to look at some other options,” Superintendent Patrick Shelton, Edwardsville District 7, said. The superintendent said the district’s main focus is to create a private, safe space for each student.
The district said the overall space will be visible from the lobby and will be supervised continuously during the times of highest usage. St. Pierre hopes the district finds a different solution to the existing bathroom issues.
“They’re addressing one issue that parents have said is a problem. Security and safety of the students going to the bathroom, but I think that this opens up a whole other box of problems and risks for students,” St. Pierre said.
The board voted to send a part of the project back to bidding due to a board member’s company being allowed to bid on the initial proposal.
