Perkiomen Valley School District votes to keep bathroom policy

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, P.a. - Perkiomen Valley School District held another school board meeting to vote on reversing a policy requiring students use restrooms and locker rooms that align with their biological sex.

Many Perkiomen families who spoke to FOX 29’s Cheyenne Corin agreed it’s a very complicated and divisive topic which is why the board decided to keep the policy in place to allow for more time for discussion. 

"I was concerned that the policy was going to go away i'm happy that the board stood up and i’m happy that they did vote to table it and go back and at least talk about it and try to come up with a solution for the kids," said Debbie Leonetti, stepmom, Perkiomen Valley School District student. 

After over an hour of discussion and emotional testimonies the Perkiomen Valley School Board voted to keep the current policy in place that requires students use the restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender assigned at birth. 

The policy was implemented in October, but the newly elected board president Laura White said it didn’t go through the proper procedure before it was passed, so proposed to "deactivate" the policy.

"I understand everybody’s worried about their children’s safety but my child’s safety, mental and physical safety are impacted every day and now his education because he’s losing a lot of time from class," said Terri Mulville, mother of a 16-year-old transgender student.

She was hoping the policy was revoked tonight, but instead the board vote 4 to 5 to keep it in place allowing more time for the policy committee and administration to provide feedback.

 In the meantime, the district will provide more single use restrooms for all students to use-including staff facilities.