Gender-Inclusive Bathrooms Coming to Wayland High School For Fall Semester

WAYLAND, MA — Wayland High School will convert two of its bathrooms into gender-inclusive bathrooms by next fall, reported the Wayland Town Crier.

The bathrooms, located in the school's English pod, will be turned into multi-stall facilities that students of any gender identity and gender-nonconforming students will be able to use. The rest of the school's bathrooms and locker rooms will remain gender-specific, reported the Town Crier.

The school's principal, Allyson Mizoguchi, told the Town Crier that the issue was brought before parents and that the school is planning to add more gender-inclusive facilities, including locker rooms, in the future.

"We need to plan for the inevitable, which is that students who are transgender or gender-nonconforming need to use locker room space and showers with privacy and dignity on our campus," Mizoguchi told The Town Crier.

The issue of gender-inclusive facilities in schools has become a topic of debate after The U.S. Justice Department sent letters to every public school district in the country providing guidelines on how to accommodate transgender students.

Read Patch's coverage about what the White House's letter means here

On Tuesday Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Barker broke party lines and said he would sign a bill protecting transgender individuals' access to restrooms, locker rooms and other public facilities of their choosing.

>>> Read the full report from the Wayland Town Crier.

Image: Patch file photo