The Potterville Board of Education is keeping a policy that allows students to use restrooms that correspond with their gender.
For months, some parents of students at Potterville Public Schools have called for a vote on the district’s bathroom policy. Some argued students should be required to use the bathroom that matches their sex assigned at birth. But others said that policy change could negatively impact transgender and non-binary students.
“In November of 2023, we had a lot of public comment and interest, not just within the Potterville community but both sides of the issue as transgender-bathroom use is becoming more and more of a national spotlight,” said Potterville School Board President Stacy Sipes.
Policies allowing LGBTQ people to use bathrooms consistent with their gender have gained traction since 2016, after North Carolina passed a "bathroom bill" limiting transgender and non-binary people from using restrooms that correspond with their gender identity.
The debate recently reached the Eaton County school district, after a group of parents began advocating for what they call a more inclusive policy to make all bathrooms unisex. Potterville Public Schools has allowed students to use the bathroom that matches their gender for several years.
“There are some members of the community who have come and spoken on both sides of the issue, but there has been a lot of interest and public comment from members outside of the community and even outside of the Greater Lansing area,” Sipes added.
The school’s board closely divided vote 4-3 will continue to allow students to the bathrooms of their choice regardless of their sex assigned at birth.
“We did, however, vote to make some accommodations to some of our existing restrooms that would allow for them to be single stall unisex bathrooms,” Sipes said.
In a separate vote, the school board allocated $12,000 to add two more unisex bathrooms to Potterville High School, which currently offers two unisex restrooms for students.
