Wausau School Board. PHOTO by Zach Hagenbucher, © 2016 Midwest Communications
Wausau School District students will continue to be allowed to choose the bathroom and locker rooms of the gender that they identify with after the debate came to a head Monday night in a special school board meeting.
About 75 people came to Horace Mann Middle School from all sides of the topic to discuss what they felt the right direction was for the school to take.
School Board President Lance Trollop said the decision was influenced by the experience of students in the schools.
“We know that the decisions we make have real impact on students, and so it’s easy for adults to think of this in an esoteric idea of just discussing the policies of it, but we know that real students are impacted by what we do tonight, and what we do every night.”
The guideline maintains that students must be consistently showing transgender traits and that each case will be handled on an individual basis, with no blanket rules for parent involvement.
The school board had the option to change their guidelines without the risk of losing federal funding because of a Texas federal court ruling, but not one board member made the motion to do so, instead only updating wording in the guidelines already in place.
Trollop also says that he appreciated the civility from the public at the meeting around what can be a very heated topic.
“Many people have been reaching out to us directly, and they’ve spoken to us in prior meetings, but it was great to have this forum again tonight. Everybody was overwhelmingly very respectful. Strong opinions on both sides, but presented in a very respectful manner, and that’s certainly appreciated.”
The majority of the people attending were against allowing students to choose their bathroom and locker room, but out of those who chose to speak, many sides of the issue were heard. Trollop says that it’s an issue the board will continue to watch and learn on.