Douglas Teegarden: Bathroom use policies continue to be area of concern

To The Daily Sun,

Now that our local elections are over, let's gather together around a topic we should all be able to agree on. Student safety in our Lakes Region schools. For me that's Laconia School District. Currently the Laconia School Board has a practice/policy in place that reads in part as follows, "Bathrooms... Best Practices: Under no circumstances should a student be required to use a restroom that does not match the student's gender identity. Students should have access to the restroom that matches their gender identity. Schools may maintain separate facilities for male and female students provided that they allow students to access them based on their gender identity and not exclusively based on students assigned birth sex." The Loudoun County student accused of sexually assaulting a ninth grade girl in a bathroom on May 28 was found guilty on all charges Monday.

The student, described as a biological male who was wearing a skirt at the time of the incident, sexually assaulted the victim in a girl's restroom at Stone Bridge High School. A judge concluded that the evidence presented was enough to convict the accused but will wait on the sentencing until the student is tried for a separate alleged assault at a different high school earlier this month. The aforementioned school district has a similar policy to the one Laconia uses. Are we going to wait until something like this happens before we do away with this policy? Given this event, the issue has moved from being an accommodation for a few, to a matter of safety for all. The superintendent, school board, faculty, staff, and administration are all charged with keeping our children safe while in school, and on school property and during school functions. Are we willing to risk the safety of our young women and girls to keep from hurting someone's feelings? The young lady in this story according to earlier reports was raped as part of this assault. Read this closely, two girls were assaulted by this one boy. Two schools. Two victims. One perpetrator. My heart goes out to all involved in this, even the boy. He has ruined his life going forward forever, and the girls will have to live with this for the rest of their lives as well. The policy Laconia has in place is part of the critical race theory Inclusion and Diversity Task Force. I call on every parent to call your local school district office and demand that they protect your children. Let's not wait for this to come to our doorstep before we act. Never let any of us have to use that tired old phrase "We never thought it would happen here."

Douglas Teegarden

Laconia