Republican School Board Member, Don Fountain
On Monday night (September 11), Don Foutain, one of five Republicans who represent the majority on the Perkiomen Valley School Board, voted with the board’s four Democrats against a motion that called for a requirement that students only use bathrooms and locker rooms assigned to their sex as determined at birth. Currently, students are free to use bathroom or locker room facilities based on their gender preferences.
“wasn’t positive, but was pretty sure a male entered the bathroom while she was in there. She is now afraid to use the facilities“
The controversy in the Perkiomen Valley Schools was put into motion after Tim Jagger, the parent of a female student at Perkionmen Valley High School, posted on Facebook that his daughter was afraid to use the facilities because she thought she might have seen a male in the the girls’ bathroom.
After all the audience members had their say, board member Tammy Campli, a Democrat, asked Superintendent Barbara Russell how the new policy might be implemented. Russell had nothing in the way of specifics to offer, but she did agree with Campli that the new policy could result in “outing students that are not out publicly.”
According to the Inquirer “Russell said that school leaders weren’t aware of any issues around transgender students’ use of bathrooms or locker rooms.”
However, Board President Jason Saylor still argued for the immediate implementation of the new policy, even though he acknowledged that some additonal discussion policy might still be necessary. “Policy is where discussions go to die,” Saylor said, “And I mean that in the most respectful way. It takes a long time to go over these policies. Our job is to set parameters and rules. Maybe there’s a differential between the bathroom and the locker room,” he added.
If you like this story, please share it.