ST. CHARLES COUNTY — A policy requiring students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that match the sex listed on their birth certificates is again on the Francis Howell School Board’s agenda — nearly nine months after the board tabled the idea following a threatened lawsuit.
The policy is almost certain to pass at the board’s meeting Thursday night as the board’s conservative majority gears up to vote on multiple policies about gender and the “appropriateness†of learning materials.
Opponents say the proposed bathroom policy would likely court new legal challenges.
Even so, the policy has been a longtime priority of board member Jane Puszkar, who has said maintaining separate facilities based on sex is “essential for the well-being, privacy and safety of all students.â€
“The opportunity for a male to disrobe in front of a female without her consent, to me, is just one of the worst things that can happen to a young lady and vice versa,†Puszkar said at a board meeting last month.
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Puszkar, one of six defendants in an ongoing suit filed by a transgender St. Charles library employee, first proposed the policy last October.
Becky Hormuth, a teacher in the district and the mother of a transgender son who attends Francis Howell High, warned the board of legal consequences if they approved the policy last fall. She told the Post-Dispatch on Monday the policy would have a “huge detrimental effect†on her son, who she feared would be bullied.
“It’s unnecessary and discriminatory,†Hormuth said. “It’s an all-around disgusting policy.â€
Board member Steven Blair doubted the policy’s legal fortitude.
“This type of bathroom bill has been defined as illegal, whether a person likes it or not,†Blair said. “Passing it leads to a likely legal challenge and lost money for the school district.â€
In June, the Missouri Western District Court of Appeals sided with a former student of the Blue Springs School District and ruled the student, a transgender man, should receive $4 million in damages after the district did not allow him to use the boys’ bathroom and locker room at school.
The Blue Springs student was denied access to boys’ facilities even after his birth certificate had been updated to reflect his male gender identity. On Monday, Puszkar said that wouldn’t happen in Francis Howell because her policy has undergone multiple legal reviews.
The policy states the district shall provide one single-use restroom for student use per school and make “reasonable†accommodations at a parent or guardian’s request.
“We will work and collaborate with any parents that bring forth any issues being faced,†Puszkar said.
Hormuth’s son, Levi Hormuth, said he’s tried to use his high school’s one single-use restroom during the school day but rarely has time.
He said the bathroom is at the opposite end of campus of most of his classes. The trek to the bathroom and back often takes more time than his four- to six-minute passing periods allow.
“If they’re so worried about privacy, why don’t they make the gaps between the bathroom stalls smaller?†Levi Hormuth said. “They’re certainly not very private.â€
The board tabled the policy in November to provide “added time for individual board members to obtain any additional information,†Board President Adam Bertrand said at the time.
In the past nine months, the Wentzville School Board voted to require students, faculty and any person inside a district school building to use restrooms and locker rooms “based on an individual’s reproductive biology at birth.†The policy took effect in April and has seen no legal challenge so far.
The threat of a potential board shakeup adds urgency for the board’s current conservative majority to fulfill their goals while they still have the votes.
In April, the general election proved a loss for Francis Howell conservatives, who sought a complete majority on the board by filling two vacant seats with like-minded candidates. But the candidates lost, and two other conservatives on the board are up for reelection in the spring.
The board will give final votes on eight other policies and regulations Thursday. Among them:
- A regulation that garnered headlines earlier this summer for restricting discussions of gender identity. The proposal, brought by Bertrand, the board president, would make it so district employees could not discuss gender identity or adopt other gender identities, except after consultation with the student’s parents or guardians.
- Proposals for a thorough, formal process for any resident or employee of the district to challenge learning materials such as books based on “appropriateness.â€
- A policy that bars library materials from containing descriptions of how to “buy, prepare for use, use, or conceal in a creative way either drugs or alcohol†or contains “excessive of unnecessary†profanity or violence.
- Librarians were concerned the board would interpret this to rid shelves of beloved books such as the “Hunger Games†or “Harry Potter,†which contain varying levels of violence.