Concerned BC Parents React to School’s Decision to Eliminate Single-Sex Washrooms and Implement Gender-Neutral Option
Parents at a British Columbia high school are voicing concerns about their children’s safety after the school closed their single-sex washrooms and left only gender-neutral ones for use by students, reportedly without consulting or informing parents.
Jolene Branconnier says her 16-year-old daughter was accosted by boys on Jan. 10 while in a stall of a gender-neutral washroom at Pleasant Valley Secondary School in Armstrong, B.C. The school had indefinitely locked its five single-sex washrooms the day before, leaving only three new gender-neutral facilities open.
She said her daughter called her in tears after the incident, saying a group of about five boys pounded on her stall door while she was using the toilet. “These boys were banging on the door so bad she could see light through the door,” Branconnier told The Epoch Times.
“She thought the door was going to fly open,“ said Branconnier. ”She started to cry. She was so scared, and she had to text her friends to come and get her out of the bathroom stall.”
Neither the school, nor the administrators or board of School District 83 responded to The Epoch Times’ requests for comments. However, the school’s principal, Steven Drapala, replied to an email from Kristy Stewart, one of the concerned parents.
In the Jan. 14 email, reviewed by The Epoch Times, Drapala said the “decision to close the gendered washrooms” at the school was based on “the new washrooms having better sightlines and enable better supervision” by staff.
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In an Armstrong residents public Facebook group, a woman asked for community input about the school’s new gender-neutral washrooms, saying her post had been removed from two other groups, including one she says is managed by the school.“Has anyone’s child expressed concern with this set up? Or had an incident already in the 2 days it’s been open?” she wrote, adding, “(there have been numerous)” and “This whole ‘inclusivity’ is going overboard and making a good number of kids feel very uncomfortable.”
The post received more than 300 comments until the group’s administrator turned off commenting, saying that hosting the discussion was taking a toll on them.
“Unfortunately we have decided to turn off comments to the post because admins are now being blocked and harassed via private message,” wrote administrator Candylee Ross. “By reading the comments you can see the action you can take.”
Prince George School Offers Only Gender-Neutral Washrooms
The Epoch Times spoke to a parent in Prince George, B.C., who said her 14-year-old daughter has no option but to use gender-neutral washrooms at school. The mother requested anonymity and asked to be referred to as “Owens” for this report, while explaining that her concern is not about the washrooms compromising her daughter’s safety but rather her privacy.
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