A group started to address the situation at D211 concerning Privacy in locker rooms and bathrooms
*** District 211 Community Alert **
The District 211 Board of Education is scheduled to take formal action regarding the complaint filed by the ACLU with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) regarding access to the girls’ locker rooms by a male student who identifies as female. You probably have seen the news coverage as it has become a national story.
Call to Action:
** All interested parents/community members are strongly encouraged to come to the Special Board Meeting THIS Wednesday, December 2 at 6:45 pm
Meeting Location: http://adc.d211.org/board-of-education-home/meeting-info/meeting-schedules/
Please check the D211 website for location as the meeting might be moved to a larger venue.
According to the posted agenda, there will be a public comment period before the Board is scheduled to take a vote to go into closed session. We encourage you to address the Board and voice your opinion on this crucial matter.
****If you are unable to attend the meeting, please email the board members and Supt. Cates directly with your requests on this matter:
– boardofeducation@d211.org
– dcates@d211.org
Who We Are
We’ve started a grassroots group of parents called D211 Parents for Privacy. Our mission is to protect the basic privacy rights of ALL students in District 211 in both the locker rooms and the bathrooms. We provide a win-win solution. Our goals are as follows:
1. Our elected representatives on the Board of Education should not settle with the OCR. Since our request to make the settlement agreement available to the public has been denied, we don’t know what’s in it, but there is plenty we already do know. If the agreement calls for any access to the locker room, even so called “restricted access” with the condition of using a privacy curtain, we are advocating a NO vote.
In addition to the locker rooms, we are addressing the bathrooms as well. The bathroom decision was made with zero input from the community, had not been discussed in open session at a Board meeting, and many of us didn’t even know the bathrooms were open access until this all became so newsworthy.
*Please note that every time the OCR has gone to federal court on this issue, they have lost. The courts are on our side. This letter was sent to the Board in October:http://www.adfmedia.org/files/THSD211Letter.pdf
2. Our elected Board should adopt a privacy policy for both locker rooms and bathrooms that will respect and protect the rights of ALL MINOR students, including those who have unique privacy requests. See below for the full text of the policy we are requesting. This policy is the model policy developed by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a well-respected organization that has advocated cases before the Supreme Court and worked on similar cases such as this. This policy has been adopted and implemented in many school districts throughout our nation. If the ADF’s model policy is adopted and then challenged, ADF will review the facts and, if appropriate, offer to defend the district free of charge.
What we Know For Sure
Any access, even so-called “restricted access” with the condition of using privacy curtains, still does not protect the basic privacy rights of minor girls in the locker room. It only addresses one part of the equation. The female students are undressing/dressing while someone of the opposite sex is allowed to walk by. Their basic right to privacy is clearly being violated. *We are told, from very reliable sources within the locker room, this is already happening.* The Administration denies it is happening. But we believe this is what’s in the settlement agreement.
Allowing students to use opposite-sex restrooms and locker rooms seriously endangers students’ privacy and safety, undermines parental authority, and violates other students’ free exercise rights. The dangers are so clear-cut that a school district allowing such activity would clearly expose itself to real legal liability.
(There have also been recent cases of schools altering these types of overreaching policies because of very disconcerting issues that occurred under these new misguided policies. http://www.dailywire.com/…/university-toronto-dumps-transge…)
We hope to see you on Wednesday.
WE URGE YOU TO FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO YOUR FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND NEIGHBORS LIVING IN D211, AND ASK THEM TO SHARE IT AS WELL.
Any questions, please email:D211ParentsforPrivacy@gmail.com
Sincerely,
D211 Parents for Privacy
