Parents, Students Show Up In Force At Heated Pittsburgh Area School Board Meeting On Bathroom Gender Policy

Parents and students crowded into a heated school board meeting in the Pittsburgh area earlier this month to sound off about bathroom use and gender identity.

Controversy erupted in the Hopewell Area School District just west of Pittsburgh this month when a junior high school girl told her parents she thought she saw a boy come into the girls bathroom, the superintendent said at the October 10 board meeting.

Superintendent Jeff Beltz said the girl’s parents called the principal, who verified through video of the incident that the student who had entered the bathroom was a girl, not a boy. However, angry parents demanded more details.

One mom who showed up demanded answers on whether trans-identifying students are allowed to use the bathroom of the opposite gender.

“I’m asking the board members to confirm for me — do you allow transgenders to share the bathrooms with the other kids, like boys in the girls bathroom, girls in the boys bathroom?” the mom asked. Beltz responded that “no one’s not using their gender’s bathroom or locker room” to the district’s knowledge, at least in the junior high school.

The district does not currently have its own policy on bathroom use for trans-identifying students.