ELCO school board passes bathroom policy, hears update on high school remodel
Eastern Lebanon County School District board unanimously passed a policy on the physical privacy of students in school facilities and Julia Vicente, the district supervisor, provided a brief progress update on the high school remodel.
Policy 253-Student Physical Privacy in School Facilities was brought up for second reading during Monday night's board meeting.
The approved and final version of the policy will be posted on the school district website once it goes through the PSBA formatting.
Administration will meet with physical education teachers at the high school this week to discuss implementation for the upcoming school year, according to Vicente.
The policy was given its first reading during a special board meeting July 13 immediately after a committee meeting presenting the draft.
Under that draft, the district superintendent or designee would be responsible for designating a portion of facilities across the school district, such as bathrooms, locker rooms and changing areas, for biological sex at birth and a portion of facilities for gender identity.
It also puts to writing that, to the extent feasible, the district will continue to incorporate single-use facilities into the design of new school buildings and renovations to existing buildings.
The superintendent or designee would also establish the procedures to ensure compliance with this policy.
The policy comes after the district closed its locker rooms in April after residents raised concerns during board meetings about a transgender student using the boys locker room.
Construction Update
Toward the end of the meeting, Vincente provided an update on the progress of remodels to the high school.
All classroom spaces are set to be complete by Aug. 18, and movers will be prepared to move teachers back into their assigned classrooms through the week of Aug. 21.
Cleaning is being done in the upstairs classrooms where flooring has already been installed.
The district offices, now connected to pupil services and special education through an addition, is also set to be complete by Aug. 18.
All student bathrooms are planned to be complete by the first day of school.
Temporary walls will be installed this week for continued construction, isolating the science wing, two math classrooms and the EMT classroom, which will be located elsewhere in building for this school year.
Back-to-school: Hundreds of Lebanon students receive free supplies at back-to-school festival
"The popular question is 'Will you be ready for opening day'," Vicente said. "We wanted to be able to communicate that to the board, to our community, that we will be ready for opening day."
Daniel Larlham Jr. is a reporter for the Lebanon Daily News. Reach him at DLarlham@LDNews.com or on X, formerly twitter @djlarlham
This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: ELCO adopts bathroom policy, gives update on school remodel
