An Okotoks principal said he’s been receiving phone calls from parents concerned over sexual orientation guidelines announced by the provincial government in mid January.
“We have had a lot of inquiries about how this is going to look in our buildings in regards to safety,” said Foothills Composite High School principal Vince Hunter. “For some people they thought it might mean a male or female can walk into a change room or bathroom at any time unannounced. There were worries about safety.”
The phone calls were in response to Alberta Education Minister David Eggen’s guidelines for schools and school boards to follow regarding diverse sexual orientation and gender identities among individuals at the school.
Many of the phone calls to the Comp were regarding the guideline, which states “Students are able to access washrooms that are congruent with their gender.”
“We heard about how are our students going to be safe,” Hunter said. “People are worried about privacy. It’s just people with questions and what is this going to look like.”
John Bailey, Foothills School Division superintendent of schools, said the division received about 80 emails, letters and phone calls concerning the guidelines over the week of Jan. 25-Jan. 29.
He stressed the majority of the emails were ones sent to the Education Minister and MLAs, and the division was part of a long cc list.
The concerns included washroom and change room safety, disregarding privacy and rights of students and parents as well as a lack of public consultation.
“As far as diverse sexual orientation and gender expression we have been dealing with that for a number of years,” he said. “We have transgender kids, gay kids and we deal with it on a case-by-case basis.”
He said if a student came to a principal and said he or she felt uncomfortable using a specific gender washroom, a solution would be found. In the past, students with concerns have been allowed to use staff washrooms.
“Why would we change when we have already been dealing with this?” Bailey said. “We are driven by every kid feels safe, every kid should feel cared for, every kid should feel welcome, and have a level of respect. This goes for both kids and parents.”
The speculation any individual would be allowed to come in and use a school washroom is preposterous, he said.
“This fear around that some guy can come in off the streets and say actually I am a girl and I’m going to use the girls washroom, what a crock,” he said. “When would a school let someone come in and use a kids’ washroom? We’ve got letters that talk about that and it feeds on people’s fear.”
Scott Morrison, Christ the Redeemer Catholic superintendent of schools, said they have also received phone calls concerning the Alberta Education guidelines. It trustees are currently working on policies.
Alberta Education has stated it will not compromise students’ safety. A notice on the division’s website states: “The guidelines do not erase existing safety protocols. They are not a “free pass” for others to behave disrespectfully. School staff continues to have a responsibility to ensure student safety. All students have a responsibility to ensure their conduct contributes to learning environments that are welcoming, caring, respectful and safe.”
If a youth comes to school – in this example a boy – and decides to use the girls’ locker room or washroom, the school staff and the parents would need to discuss the situation with the youth to determine if they in fact need support or if they were acting disrespectfully. In either situation, there would be procedures to address the youth accordingly.
Alberta Ed has posted a site for frequently asked questions about the guideline at understandingtheguidelines.ca
