Pennsylvania school board closes ALL locker rooms amid controversy over trans student

A Pennsylvania high school announced that they will be closing all school locker rooms after parents raised concerns about a trans-identified student using the boys changing room.

In an 8 to 1 vote on Monday, the Eastern Lebanon County School District board of directors decided to close the locker rooms for the duration of the school year, effective April 24, according to Lebanon Daily News.



Students that take Physical Education classes, or P.E., have been directed by Superintendent Julia Vicente to come to school wearing gym clothes. Student athletes will be allowed to utilize the locker rooms for a short duration of time before practices.

"The directive has been for the board to be able to consider options that respect the confidentiality and privacy of all students," Vicente said, according to the outlet.

The Board of Directors made the decision after parents repeatedly complained to the school board about the trans-identified student's use of the boy's locker room. The majority of parents raised concerns about the precedent being set, although some parents spoke in support of the trans-identified student.
 

"To hear the language used, the hate expressed in my community, my school, made me sad and I was really angry, like not able to sleep at night angry," said one parent in support of the trans student.

"The adults that spoke and targeted a student in our school and a family in our community with ignorant and transphobic language should be ashamed of themselves." the parent added.

Despite the some parents advocating for trans-identified students to use whichever locker rooms they please, the school board of directors overwhelmingly sided with the parents concerned for their children.

According to Superintendent Vicente, the school district will work with the board of directors ahead of the 2023-2024 school year to work on solutions to the problem.

Parents have flocked to school board meetings in record-breaking numbers over the past few years to express concerns about radical left-wing agendas being imposed on their children at school. The trans debate has garnered significant attention as schools began to allow trans-identified students change alongside biological men and women, raising concerns about safety. Parents and student athletes have been on the frontlines of the culture war fighting for the preservation and fairness of women's sports after trans-identified male athletes are being allowed to compete against biological women.