Manchester School Board Discusses Bathrooms At Work Session
January 30, 2020 at 12:17 a.m.
By Maddie Jo Shultz-
Board President Ruth Ayres introduced Dana Wannemacher, an architect from Barton-Coe-Vilamaa in Fort Wayne.
“What you’re going to see in this presentation tonight is an attempt to create some baseline for conversation about how restrooms might be modified physically to adapt to some of the issues that you folks are trying to address,” Wannemacher said.
He detailed two main options for bathroom modifications, based on his conversations with the school’s facilities committee.
Option A would involve removing the existing bathroom partitions, which begin at 14 inches above the floor, and replacing them with partitions that are only 3 inches from the floor. Option B would be to replace the partitions with standard walls and “physically create separate rooms for each water closet,” said Wannemacher.
Districtwide, these modifications would cost upward of $1.4 million, according to Wannemacher’s estimates.
The cost surprised board member Michael Hensley, who said, “It just boggles my mind. ... There’s got to be some other solution than changing all these restrooms.”
During discussion, community member Jake Longnecker offered his input. He approached the blueprints shown on the projector screen and explained his idea of relocating two sinks and creating a single private stall “for whoever wants their individual privacy.”
Board members Hensley, Rick Espeset and Raju Shah considered the possibility of a universal restroom to supplement the current boys’ and girls’ restrooms. A universal option would allow any student, including gender-diverse individuals, the choice of either a gendered or non-gendered restroom.
“Under the law, the way I understand it, is you can’t tell a gender-diverse student, ‘You can only use the universal restroom,’” said Shah.
Community member Nate Gephart also addressed the board. “What you’re teaching in the school system is that you can be whatever gender you want to be, and that’s not safe mentally and emotionally for my children,” he said.
Hensley responded to Gephart. “You’ve got your opinion, and other people have their opinion,” he said. “But there’s a separation between church and state.”
“The truth is the truth and there is no religion about it. It’s just science,” concluded Gephart before stepping down.
Superintendent Teresa Gremaux said that she and the board would take into consideration all the information they received and “go back to the drawing board” at the Feb. 6 facilities committee meeting.
A video recording of this work session is available on Manchester Community Schools’ YouTube page. The next regular school board meeting is 6 p.m. Feb. 11.
Board President Ruth Ayres introduced Dana Wannemacher, an architect from Barton-Coe-Vilamaa in Fort Wayne.
“What you’re going to see in this presentation tonight is an attempt to create some baseline for conversation about how restrooms might be modified physically to adapt to some of the issues that you folks are trying to address,” Wannemacher said.
He detailed two main options for bathroom modifications, based on his conversations with the school’s facilities committee.
Option A would involve removing the existing bathroom partitions, which begin at 14 inches above the floor, and replacing them with partitions that are only 3 inches from the floor. Option B would be to replace the partitions with standard walls and “physically create separate rooms for each water closet,” said Wannemacher.
Districtwide, these modifications would cost upward of $1.4 million, according to Wannemacher’s estimates.
The cost surprised board member Michael Hensley, who said, “It just boggles my mind. ... There’s got to be some other solution than changing all these restrooms.”
During discussion, community member Jake Longnecker offered his input. He approached the blueprints shown on the projector screen and explained his idea of relocating two sinks and creating a single private stall “for whoever wants their individual privacy.”
Board members Hensley, Rick Espeset and Raju Shah considered the possibility of a universal restroom to supplement the current boys’ and girls’ restrooms. A universal option would allow any student, including gender-diverse individuals, the choice of either a gendered or non-gendered restroom.
“Under the law, the way I understand it, is you can’t tell a gender-diverse student, ‘You can only use the universal restroom,’” said Shah.
Community member Nate Gephart also addressed the board. “What you’re teaching in the school system is that you can be whatever gender you want to be, and that’s not safe mentally and emotionally for my children,” he said.
Hensley responded to Gephart. “You’ve got your opinion, and other people have their opinion,” he said. “But there’s a separation between church and state.”
“The truth is the truth and there is no religion about it. It’s just science,” concluded Gephart before stepping down.
Superintendent Teresa Gremaux said that she and the board would take into consideration all the information they received and “go back to the drawing board” at the Feb. 6 facilities committee meeting.
A video recording of this work session is available on Manchester Community Schools’ YouTube page. The next regular school board meeting is 6 p.m. Feb. 11.
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