‘They should be worrying about school; Fairborn mom says transgender child being discriminated
A mother claims her child, a freshman in high school, is being discriminated against because the child is transgender.
The parent also said her child is also disabled and faces 15 minute trips out of class for a challenging trip to a restroom on a different floor.
News Center’s Mike Campbell spoke with the student’s parents and to Fairborn school administrators about the issue.
>>PHOTOS: Fairborn High School transgender bathroom
The parents of the student told Campbell there were no problems with this issue the last two years of middle school or this year, the first year at the high school. But that all changed in mid-December.
Amanda Flaugher told him her child had been using a teacher’s staff restroom on the second floor where all the student’s classes are. But over a two-day period, a janitor and then a man that is both a coach and teacher made it clear that would stop, despite one of the student’s class room teachers escorting there.
“The teacher came out and escorted them to the bathroom and the coach got in the teacher’s face,” she said.
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Flaugher told Campbell her physically disabled, transgender child came home in tears. Now her child, who uses a cane or wheelchair depending on the day, faces a 15 minute trip downstairs and back up, anytime a restroom is needed.
“Black and white, there’s no doubt, clear as day, they’re discriminating,” she said.
The Fairborn Schools Superintendent was not available for an interview Monday but released a statement to News Center 7.
“The Fairborn City School district does not allow any students to use staff restrooms,” the statement said. “The district allows students to use appropriate restroom according to the law ... The student uses the bathroom of the sex they identify with.”
“To worry about these battles at school, they should be worrying about school,” said Flaugher. “My child as an A-B honor roll, all honors classes type kid.”
She showed Campbell her paperwork from her children’s doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists all stating the child is not comfortable using the rest of the sex identity they identify with.
Flaugher said the school suggested a restroom in the nurse’s office but the she said that restroom is still on the first floor, again making for a 15 minute trip and too much missed classroom time.
“We’re not asking for the world,” she explained. “We’re asking for one bathroom on each floor, that they could go use the bathroom.”
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Campbell says it’s not clear if the parents, the student and school administrators will be able to reach a solution to this issue that works for all sides. What is clear is that almost every district in our area will likely face these same type of issues.
