ROCK HILL, S.C.— So-called “bathroom bills” are being talked about again, this time at Rock Hill Schools.
In April, South Carolina senators passed a budget amendment that would make it so that public school kids have to use bathrooms that match the gender they were given at birth. As politicians wait to sign off on the state budget, a member of the Rock Hill school board is working to get a similar policy passed in the district.
Pete Nosal, a member of the board, wants to make it so that all kids in the district have to use bathrooms and locker rooms that are appropriate for their gender. But officials from the district say it’s not clear if they can.
It was brought to Nosal’s attention that at Rock Hill High School, one or more guys are using the girls’ bathroom. This was said at a recent board meeting. This group of 13–14-year-old girls doesn’t feel safe in these bathrooms.
At this week’s board meeting, Dr. Martha Edwards, a pediatrician in Rock Hill, voiced worries about Nosal’s plan.
“I have never had an encounter with any child who came in due to being harmed by a transgender person,” she stated.
Edwards said a few things that Nosal didn’t agree with, and she asked her where she got her college and medical degrees.
This is a statewide issue, not just in Rock Hill. In the South Carolina Senate’s version of the state budget, Rock Hill state senator Wes Climer added a rule that would force all public school kids to use bathrooms that match their sex.
If this part of the bill is passed, school districts that don’t follow the rule could lose state funds.
When Climer talked about the budget change in the senate, he used the same Rock Hill kid that Nosal had brought up at the district board meeting.
“In order to avoid singling out and causing harm to a small group of students who are already significantly struggling, I think it’s best we trust the administrators and teachers that we have hired to serve all our students,” said Edwards.
Edwards was worried that transgender kids’ safety and security weren’t being thought about.
Helena Miller, chair of the school board, told WCNC Charlotte, “Our number one goal is to make sure everybody is safe.”
She said that all schools in Rock Hill have private bathrooms for kids who need them. The board is waiting for legal advice on how to move forward with the plan.
“Depending on what we hear back from the attorney general or legal advice, and also what’s happening as far as our state legislation, that could potentially put us for a first read [of the policy] in June,” said Miller.
There are government rules that say these kinds of bathroom rules are not allowed in schools. Alan Wilson, the attorney general of South Carolina, is one of several southern Republican attorneys general who are protesting these rules in federal court right now.
