Officials say bathroom gender concerns at Stagg High School untrue after investigating rumor

High School District 230 officials say concerns spread on social media regarding a male student using the female locker rooms at Stagg High School were investigated and found to be untrue.

Discussion on Facebook groups and at a recent district meeting was based on inaccurate rumors that spread quickly as the national topic of multigender bathrooms becomes a hot-button issue locally, officials said.

“There was a group of students at Stagg who believed there was a male student using a female locker room,” Superintendent Robert J. Nolting said. “This was investigated and found not to be true.”

Yet a rumor about changes to the district’s bathroom policy spread onto social media with several users posting about the topic in Facebook groups such as Tinley Park Community Watch and Citizens of Tinley Park.

“PARENTS, Stagg High School and Argo High School have opened up Gender Neutral Bathrooms and Locker Rooms allowing boys into Girls Facilities,” one of the posts from a user named Michael Michalow claimed. “I understand Andrew HS is next.”

Michalow told the Daily Southtown he was made aware of the bathroom situation after a “friend posted a post from her friend that his daughter had to share a locker room with a boy.”

“I reached out to her to confirm a few things,” he said in an email. “She went to the school board and reported on it. The school board apparently was apathetic to the parents.”

Officials in District 230, which also includes Sandburg High School in Orland Park, say they are simply complying with local and national law, and school policy changes have not been changed in several years.

Other south and southwest suburban high school districts have worked to adopt policies to ensure a safe environment for LGBTQ students.

Homewood-Flossmoor High School District 233 leadership described a bathroom and locker room stall setup similar to the system at District 230, but said they had not experienced the issues.

High School District 218, with Eisenhower High School in Blue Island, Richards in Oak Lawn and Shepard in Palos Heights, adopted an equity policy in 2020 that calls for the hiring of a diverse staff that “more closely reflects the school community” including students, particularly when it comes to sexual orientation.

In 2017, the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in Whitaker v. Kenosha Unified School District that transgender students cannot be restricted from using the bathroom that matches their identity. This ruling was confirmed again earlier this year when the same court upheld the decision in Kluge v. Brownsburg Community School Corp.

Nolting said the idea there are gender neutral locker rooms in the district is inaccurate.

“In all physical education locker rooms, there have been private changing areas for students since 2017-18,” he said. “We have currently expanded the number of private areas. In our bathrooms, both genders have private stalls to use.”

In the past several years, Illinois policy about who may use what bathrooms has also changed for public establishments. Lawmakers passed the Equitable Restroom Act of 2019 which states all single-stall bathrooms in public places have to be gender neutral. Earlier this year, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law a bill to allow multistall bathrooms in public spaces to become gender neutral if the store owner would like, and with certain requirements.

This legislation emphasizes Illinois’ place as one of the most progressive states for LGBTQ and transgender rights. According to the Movement Advancement Project, an independent, nonprofit think tank that tracks policy nationwide, Illinois is tied with 15 states and Washington, D.C. for having the most pro-LGBTQ rights policies.

The Human Rights Campaign noted Illinois has some of the most transgender friendly policies in the country, lacking only trans inclusive health benefits for state employees, according to the organization’s score card.

Although no large scale changes are being made at District 230, Nolting said the district is working on “installing a location for ‘change only’ spaces with private stalls” for students to change if need be for sports or physical education classes. Student will be given additional time to prepare for these physical education classes as the district irons out the adjustment, according to district emails.

“Thus far, students have been incredible in their use of our processes to make them both comfortable and maintain a respectful environment for all students,” Nolting said.

Homewood-Flossmoor District 233 promoted the national Spirit Day on Thursday as part of an anti-bullying movement to help LGBTQ students and in particular transgender and nonbinary youth.

“I am a big proponent that we are moving past days and months and we understand that this is our environment,” said Catherine Ross-Cook, the diversity, equity and inclusion coordinator.

“The overall acceptance has been pretty high,” said Kristine Zandi, an H-F social worker.

Ross-Cook and Zandi also celebrated the school’s gender-inclusive programs such as Alphabet Soup, a club that meets bimonthly and provides a welcoming space for people of all races, genders and sexual orientations.

“It’s one of the most inclusive things that I’ve been a part of at this school,” junior Tavis Marsalis said. “It’s really helped me be comfortable with myself and who I am and what I call myself as well.”