MCPS Looking Into 'All-Gender' Bathrooms in Schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tons of restaurants have non-gendered bathrooms now, [b]my workplace has them - the DCPS my kids go to has non-gendered bathrooms (in addition to old-fashioned gendered ones) I think the fine children of MoCo can deal.

But aren't these usually individual bathrooms. I've never been to a restaurant that had male/female bathrooms with multiple stalls. I wouldn't want to used bathrooms with men. Gross.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Superintendent sees no issue with coed bathrooms in schools https://twitter.com/wmalnews/status/1108804513236959232?s=21

So out of touch.

So many other more important things to spend money on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous[b wrote:]The problem with single-occupancy bathrooms is that they're hard to access if there's a problem. [/b]Which, in schools, is a virtual certainty. Unless you modify the door so it can be easily jimmied open from the outside. All it takes is one little kid locking the door and then forgetting how to work the knob or not being able to grip it correctly (I've seen this happen) and panicking and no one can get in to help. Or a student with special needs eloping and locking themselves in and then staff can't find them. Or what happened at Lee MS a few years ago. At our own school, a teacher became trapped in a bathroom when the lock broke off in the door and it took 2 hours for maintenance to smash the door enough to get him out. Imagine if it had been a student?

In that case why couldn't a trans kid just use the bathroo. Of their biological sex? Why do the "need" to use the bathroom of the opposite sex or even a gender neutral bathroom?

[Anonymous]

Single use, no gender rooms would be a blessing from my perspective as a MS teacher in MCPS. I’ve taught directly across from both a boys’ room and a girls’ room over the years. Both sexes trash the group rooms and bullying occurs in both. I’d love a switch to 3-4 single occupancy, no gender rooms with a hand washing station outside. We traveled in Europe recently and many public spaces were set up this way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Single use, no gender rooms would be a blessing from my perspective as a MS teacher in MCPS. I’ve taught directly across from both a boys’ room and a girls’ room over the years. Both sexes trash the group rooms and bullying occurs in both. I’d love a switch to 3-4 single occupancy, no gender rooms with a hand washing station outside. We traveled in Europe recently and many public spaces were set up this way.

Unfortunately, this is not what MCPS wants to do.

And a hand washing station outside? Seems a little icky, FWIW.

[Anonymous]

Do you know how awkward it’s goung to be for kids of the opposite sex to take dumps around each other? Why don’t liberais care at About their anxiety ? I have serious anxiety issues like that and I’m an adult. I’d drop out of school before having a situation like that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Single use, no gender rooms would be a blessing from my perspective as a MS teacher in MCPS. I’ve taught directly across from both a boys’ room and a girls’ room over the years. Both sexes trash the group rooms and bullying occurs in both. I’d love a switch to 3-4 single occupancy, no gender rooms with a hand washing station outside. We traveled in Europe recently and many public spaces were set up this way.

This doesn't happen in any single European SCHOOL.

[Anonymous]

Idiots. You'd think they'd find more important things to spend money on. I'd be pissed if they did this just on that basis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ha, true. Conversely my neat nick son would be delighted to be able to use the girls' bathroom instead.

My son too but not a chance I'd be ok with mixed bathrooms in high school. That is a disaster waiting to happen.[b] Isn't there enough bad stuff in our high schools right now?

Seriously. Though, really it would apply in MS also. I'm not thrilled with the idea of 8th grade boys and 6th grade girls using the same bathroom either. How would they monitor to ensure there were no issues?

The article is very specific that they are talking single stalls. Do those of you who are horrified by the idea let your kid use the bathroom someplace like Starbucks? Same idea.

I am a HS special ed teacher, and single stalls would solve plenty of issues? Kids smoking? Much easier to figure out who if they are in their one at a time. Same gender bullying? Not in a single stall. Kids with disabilities who need assistance from an adult of the opposite gender? Now they don’t have to traipse across the school to the nurse’s office. Same for kids with medical issues who need more privacy.

This is one of those universal design things that will end up with many more users than the group who originally advocated for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ha, true. Conversely my neat nick son would be delighted to be able to use the girls' bathroom instead.

My son too but not a chance I'd be ok with mixed bathrooms in high school. That is a disaster waiting to happen.[b] Isn't there enough bad stuff in our high schools right now?

Seriously. Though, really it would apply in MS also. I'm not thrilled with the idea of 8th grade boys and 6th grade girls using the same bathroom either. How would they monitor to ensure there were no issues?

The article is very specific that they are talking single stalls. Do those of you who are horrified by the idea let your kid use the bathroom someplace like Starbucks? Same idea.

I am a HS special ed teacher, and single stalls would solve plenty of issues? Kids smoking? Much easier to figure out who if they are in their one at a time. Same gender bullying? Not in a single stall. Kids with disabilities who need assistance from an adult of the opposite gender? Now they don’t have to traipse across the school to the nurse’s office. Same for kids with medical issues who need more privacy.

This is one of those universal design things that will end up with many more users than the group who originally advocated for it.

This is not the same thing as the bathrooms in Starbucks.

In Starbucks, one person goes in and locks the door behind them. Nobody else is going in that completely closed off room.

Smith is talking about a common area, with stalls. Not the same thing, IMO.

Also, I personally hate using the Starbucks bathrooms and much prefer separate ladies' rooms. It ALWAYS smells like pee in those Starbucks bathrooms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ha, true. Conversely my neat nick son would be delighted to be able to use the girls' bathroom instead.

My son too but not a chance I'd be ok with mixed bathrooms in high school. That is a disaster waiting to happen.[b] Isn't there enough bad stuff in our high schools right now?

Seriously. Though, really it would apply in MS also. I'm not thrilled with the idea of 8th grade boys and 6th grade girls using the same bathroom either. How would they monitor to ensure there were no issues?

The article is very specific that they are talking single stalls. Do those of you who are horrified by the idea let your kid use the bathroom someplace like Starbucks? Same idea.

I am a HS special ed teacher, and single stalls would solve plenty of issues? Kids smoking? Much easier to figure out who if they are in their one at a time. Same gender bullying? Not in a single stall. Kids with disabilities who need assistance from an adult of the opposite gender? Now they don’t have to traipse across the school to the nurse’s office. Same for kids with medical issues who need more privacy.

This is one of those universal design things that will end up with many more users than the group who originally advocated for it.

they are talking group bathrooms. I heard it on the news. The superintendent says he supports it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ha, true. Conversely my neat nick son would be delighted to be able to use the girls' bathroom instead.

My son too but not a chance I'd be ok with mixed bathrooms in high school. That is a disaster waiting to happen.[b] Isn't there enough bad stuff in our high schools right now?

Seriously. Though, really it would apply in MS also. I'm not thrilled with the idea of 8th grade boys and 6th grade girls using the same bathroom either. How would they monitor to ensure there were no issues?

The article is very specific that they are talking single stalls. Do those of you who are horrified by the idea let your kid use the bathroom someplace like Starbucks? Same idea.

I am a HS special ed teacher, and single stalls would solve plenty of issues? Kids smoking? Much easier to figure out who if they are in their one at a time. Same gender bullying? Not in a single stall. Kids with disabilities who need assistance from an adult of the opposite gender? Now they don’t have to traipse across the school to the nurse’s office. Same for kids with medical issues who need more privacy.

This is one of those universal design things that will end up with many more users than the group who originally advocated for it.

they are talking group bathrooms. I heard it on the news. The superintendent says he supports it

If this doesn't get the attention of every rational thinking parent in Monco then nothing will! This is sheer insanity! Why should kids going through puberty have one more f-ing thing to worry about in school? Girls getting their periods first the first time, already unsure, having to use tampons and pads in stalls next to boys. I can not believe this! Furious!

I am so glad my kids are going to private schools in the next two years. If this goes into effect, there will be a mass exodus of parents who can afford private. Watch the overall scores of the schools rank even further. Trampling on the rights of many, especially young girls to appease a very very small minority. As if Monco doesn't have other more important issues to throw money at like overcrowding and a crappy failing curriculum. Man does this pi$$ me off!

[Anonymous]

Agree with the PP. Seems like this would only be an issue for a very small minority of kids. Why would the entire school system need to overhaul its restrooms and spend a crap ton of money on this? Especially when there are so many greater needs within the school system.

I’m sure many parents would love to go private, but simply can’t afford to in this area. And MCPS certainly doesn’t mind if parents take their kids out of MCPS. It means less students for them to worry about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree with the PP. Seems like this would only be an issue for a very small minority of kids. Why would the entire school system need to overhaul its restrooms and spend a crap ton of money on this? Especially when there are so many greater needs within the school system.

I’m sure many parents would love to go private, but simply can’t afford to in this area. And MCPS certainly doesn’t mind if parents take their kids out of MCPS. It means less students for them to worry about.

+1.

MCPS is responsible for ALL students, not just a few.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree with the PP. Seems like this would only be an issue for a very small minority of kids. Why would the entire school system need to overhaul its restrooms and spend a crap ton of money on this? Especially when there are so many greater needs within the school system.

I’m sure many parents would love to go private, but simply can’t afford to in this area. And MCPS certainly doesn’t mind if parents take their kids out of MCPS. It means less students for them to worry about.

We'd love to go private for $20K, just not $40K and the problem is there are few privates in MC that are not religious.