Education

School Board That Banned Urinals Changes Mind After Students Protest

[YouTube/Screenshot/Public — User: WMUR-TV]

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Reagan Reese Contributor
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A New Hampshire school board reversed its ban on urinals a week after prohibiting them amid backlash from students, according to WMUR News.

The Milford School Board unanimously voted Wednesday to put urinals back in the school bathrooms after previously banning them last week over gender identity concerns, according to WMUR News. The reversal comes after more than 100 students within the district walked out to protest the banning of the urinals. (RELATED: Idaho School Board Cancels Gender Identity Policy Following Community Uproar)

“The board has listened to folks,” Christi Michaud, superintendent of Milford School District, told the outlet. “Lots and lots of emails, lots of phone calls that we’ve received.”

On Feb. 6, the Milford School Board voted to limit the number of students allowed in the bathroom at once, prohibited students from using shared changing spaces and banned urinals, leading to them being covered with trash bags. The ban was an attempt at a compromise after a policy was proposed to permit bathroom use on the basis of biological sex rather than gender identity.

The reversal only applied to the ban on urinals, according to WMUR News.

Students and several teachers protested the ban on Feb. 11, with one carrying a sign that said “we want urinals.” The urinal ban has led to male students feeling “targeted,” WMUR News reported.

“Nobody asked for this,” Autumn Diveley, a Milford School District student, told the outlet. “Nobody but the few parents who complained to the school board asked for this.”

The limit on the number of students allowed in the bathroom at a time will still stand and students will still use bathrooms on the basis of gender identity, according to WMUR News.

“My personal opinion is that the students’ actions speak for how they feel about the bathroom situation and that it’s clear the board must deal with this issue ASAP,” Joseph Vitulli, Milford School Board secretary, told the outlet after students protested. “The idea of immediately changing was not well thought out by the board, and we need to fix the situation.”

The Milford School Board and Michaud did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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