Colorado Springs school district votes on bathroom bill targeting transgender students

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Colorado Springs school District 49 will now require its students to use the bathroom associated with their biological sex. Single-user facilities must be made available in all schools for students who request additional privacy, as stated in the accommodation section of the policy. 

Board members adopted the policy in a 3-2 vote on Wednesday night. 

Jamilynn D'Avola, Deb Schmidt, and Lori Thompson voted in favor of the policy, citing safety concerns about bad actors who might use bathrooms not associated with their biological sex to abuse students. 

“It’s important that we have sex segregated bathrooms so that our girls have private spaces in order to do their business without having someone who is biologically a man in their bathroom,” D’Avola said.

District 49’s policy follows the decision last May by the school district to ban transgender athletes from sports. The new policy is in line with a broader movement against allowing transgender individuals to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity. Several states, all of them led by Republican-majority legislatures, have statewide bathroom bans.

Bathroom bans have not gained as much traction as policies targeting transgender athletes, so many people were surprised to see the school board put this policy on the table, said Ollie Glessner, the communications director at Inside Out Youth Services, a nonprofit in Colorado Springs that offers support, recreational activities, and drug and alcohol counseling for LGBTQ+ youth.

This policy is just another way to make transgender kids feel “othered” when kids just want to fit in, said Holly Bombria, 66, who attended the board meeting in opposition to the policy. 

“This board has become singularly focused on about 1.5% of our student body,” said Mike Heil, the treasurer for District 49 who voted against the policy. District 49 is the largest school district in El Paso County by enrollment.

“This board, if it is ever remembered at all, will be known as a single issue board obsessed with what’s happening in our children’s underwear,” he said. 

The decision affects both transgender students and teachers, like Fox Dickey, 33, who works as a special education paraeducator at District 49’s Evans Elementary School. Though the faculty bathrooms at Evans Elementary are already single-occupancy, Dickey said the vote makes him wonder if it is a safe place to work and if his peers respect him. 

Dickey said he will continue his education to become a full-time teacher despite the new policy.

“[Transgender] kids deserve to see that we grow up,” Dickey said.

Approximately 52 people showed up to the school board meeting wearing purple to show opposition to the policy. 

The decision to vote on the policy was changed from the regular session to a special meeting at the last minute, a move that Glessner argued was an attempt to sneak in the vote without the public knowing. Heil moved to amend last night’s agenda to postpone the vote to the next regular session on October 9 where public comments could be made. His movement was seconded by Marie La Vere-Wright, who also opposed the policy. The movement was denied. 

Principals and administrators are expected to implement the new bathroom policy after fall break, towards the end of October, said Peter Hilt, District 49’s superintendent.