A Toronto elementary school is the first in the city to have girls and boys use the same multi-stall washrooms, and the resulting problems have reportedly included a boy exposing himself to a girl, kids peeking under the stall doors, stall doors being kicked in while girls are inside, and girls uncomfortable performing menstrual hygiene.
They all wished to remain anonymous out of fear they would be perceived as discriminatory for speaking up against washrooms meant to be inclusive to transgender students.
In addition to the multi-stall washrooms there are two stand-alone washrooms available for students who wish to have extra privacy. But some parents told the Star that those washrooms are not always available and their children have held their bladders to avoid the multi-stall washrooms.
Jean Lumb is a relatively new school in the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), having opened in 2020. The board decided while building it to include the unusual feature of all gender-neutral washrooms.
“It is rare that TDSB builds new schools given its existing property, and the construction of Jean Lumb PS provided an opportunity to create a more inclusive environment for students, while maintaining access to standalone single-user washrooms for those that require them,” TDSB spokesperson Ryan Bird said in a statement emailed to The Epoch Times.
In response to parent complaints, Bird said, TDSB is taking steps to increase privacy in Jean Lumb’s washrooms. New stall doors will be taller and closer to the floor to prevent peeking. The board hopes to have them installed by September.
Co-chair of Jean Lumb’s school advisory council Izabela Melon told The Epoch Times via email that 125 people signed a petition calling for some gender-specific washrooms in the school. But that doesn’t mean the petition represents the families of 125 students, she said, as other people in the community may have signed it.
“The couple of parents who reached out to the Star do not represent the views of all Jean Lumb PS families,” she said.
“Some [parents] are indifferent; some are vehemently opposed to making a change; some are proud that our school follows progressive guidelines; some feel their concerns have been addressed with steps taken or proposed by the school,” said the council’s statement, which Melon included in her email.
“As a council, we have chosen to remain neutral on non-gendered washrooms because we have heard many conflicting perspectives within our community.”
The school has about 550 students from kindergarten to Grade 8. The kindergarten classrooms have their own washrooms.
