Central Pa. school district installs surveillance windows in gender-inclusive bathrooms - pennlive.com

Skip to ArticleSet weatherBack To Main MenuCloseQuick Look-Change your current location »Current -Mostly SunnyTonightLow -Mostly SunnyTomorrowHigh -Mostly SunnyView full weather reportAll Access + The Patriot-News online newspaper – Start today for $1NewsCentral Pa. school district installs surveillance windows in gender-inclusive bathroomsUpdated: Oct. 03, 2024, 3:13 p.m.|Published: Oct. 03, 2024, 5:05 a.m.The South Western School District in York County is drawing scrutiny for its plan to install windows in gender-inclusive bathrooms, allowing teachers and other students to look inside. This file photo does not show the district.  (AP Photo/Toby Talbot, File)APBy Ivey DeJesus | idejesus@pennlive.comThe issue of gender-inclusive school bathrooms has in recent years bedeviled many school districts, but a York County school district took a controversial approach that critics are saying violates privacy rights.The South Western School District is drawing scrutiny for its plan to install windows in gender-inclusive bathrooms, allowing teachers and other students to look inside.The school board ordered district officials to cut holes in the bathroom walls in order to be able to surveil students while they use the restrooms. So-called gender-inclusive bathrooms are generally offered for the use of transgender, nonbinary and other gender-expansive students.In an email statement sent to PennLive, board president Matthew Gelazela, said the renovations would impact only public areas of the bathrooms.“As Southwestern School District engages in renovating multiuser restroom facilities, it has an interest in opening a view into the non private area of those facilities in similar fashion to what has existed for years in our elementary schools,” he wrote. “In making the area outside of stalls more viewable, we are better able to monitor for a multitude of prohibited activities such as any possible vaping, drug use, bullying or absenteeism.”PennLive requested an interview with the superintendent but calls were not immediately returned.Gelazela distinguished the boundaries of the space inside bathrooms.“Our students should not consider the space outside of our stalls as private within the multiuser restrooms,” he said. “Our current policy states ‘In any facility in a District school that is for use based on Gender Identity, in which a person may be in a state of undress in the presence of others, school personnel shall provide private changing areas for use.’ Areas between our stalls and sinks in multiuser restrooms are not private changing areas under that policy.”Gelazela said that the gender-inclusive bathrooms are undergoing renovations and construction in order to add additional privacy to the stalls from within the restroom.“(T)here is no view into those private stall spaces from outside of the restrooms,” he said.Critics of the policy decry it as an invasion of privacy and a concerted effort to monitor and intimidate LGBTQ students.South Western undertook the project in consultation with the conservative Independence Law Center, which is seeking to influence policy in school districts throughout central Pennsylvania.The board approved spending $8,700 for the cut-out windows.“This has been a progression of policies that have been provided to the school district by the Independence Law Center,” said Eric Stiles, executive director of the Rainbow Rose Center in York, an advocacy group for the LGBTQ community.“They are providing all this input into how they need to address, for lack of a better term, the scare they are going through over LGBTQI+ folks. They’ve done book banning and not using pronouns and outing students to their parents, and now this latest attempt is these bathroom windows that really call into concern the safety of students.”Stiles said the policy concerns him on multiple levels.“It’s not just teachers that will use the windows,” he said. “There will be other students that use the windows, which means they can track each other when they use the bathroom or go away or try to get away. Often in high school, junior high or elementary schools, kids use the bathroom as a place to get away from bullies or hide or have a moment. Now there is this big window.”Stiles, who has spent years advocating for victims of domestic violence, said he is also worried that young people who are victims have lost a safe space.“What does it mean for victims of violence that haven’t been able to come forward?” he said. “Now you have a big window there. Are they going to have to plan their day on how and when to use the bathroom?”Stiles said his agency has reached out to local, state and national partners for guidance and legal counseling.“It’s kind of eeky,” Vic Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, told PennLive. “Let’s be clear, this isn’t into the stalls. It strikes me as kind of creepy but I‘m not aware of any law. That doesn’t mean there isn’t one out there.”Walczak said the agency has heard of cases involving schools that refuse to put doors on bathroom stalls. “I have had those complaints in the past,” he said.South Western in the past two years has wrestled with several hot-button issues, supporting policies considered by some parents to be extreme.The board earlier this year passed a measure giving parents the right to censor and ban books; another measure gives teachers the right to refuse a student’s preferred pronouns.The policy mandates teachers inform parents if their student is requesting to be called by a different name or pronoun.Stiles fears this latest bathroom policy will have far-reaching adverse impacts.“This is going to have a silencing effect,” he said. “It increases the danger for them in trying to use the bathroom. I know from reports that they are trying to increase oversight of the wash area. That’s what they are saying. What they really want is to ensure they have the right students in the right bathroom.”Stiles noted that LGBTQ students, in particular transgender and non-binary students, have disproportionately higher rates of depression, self-harm and suicide compared to cisgender students.“These things inspire fear,” Stiles said. “Not just for the one school but all schools. The effect is chilling. It’s one more reason to feel unsafe. It sends a direct message to the LGBTQI+ community that it is an unsafe community.”Stories by Ivey DeJesusTrump crackdown sparks fear among immigrants in central Pa. Community activist aims to create ‘a sense of belonging’: Trailblazers & TrendsettersHarrisburg Catholic bishop urges faithful to respect dignity of immigrants
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.Footer NavigationAbout UsContact UsSend Us a News TipPA Media GroupThe Patriot-NewsAdvertise with UsCareer OpportunitiesPennLiveCommunity RulesAccessibility StatementSubscriptionsPennLiveThe Patriot-NewsNewslettersAlready a SubscriberManage your SubscriptionPlace a Vacation HoldMake a PaymentDelivery FeedbackPennLive SectionsBusinessObituariesJobsAutosReal EstateRentalsClassifiedsHomeNewsSportsPSU FootballHigh School SportsBettingEntertainmentPa. Life & CulturePa. Food & DiningOpinionMobile AppsiPhone, Android AppsTablet AppsMore on PennLiveWeather NewsArchivesPost a JobPost a Classified AdSell your CarSell/Rent your HomeSponsor ContentFollow UsTwitterFacebookInstagramRSSYour Privacy ChoicesPrivacy Policy|User Agreement|Ad ChoicesDisclaimerUse of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, (updated 8/1/2024) and acknowledgement of our Privacy Policy,  and Your Privacy Choices and Rights  (updated 1/1/2025).© 2025 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local.Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site.YouTube's privacy policy is available here and YouTube's terms of service is available here.Ad Choices
It's to make sure there aren't any sex change operations going on in there. /s