GOP lawmaker files bill to ensure Kentucky schools have ‘gender-specific' restrooms
Superintendent Demetrius Liggins included this rendering in his presentation to a legislative committee in Frankfort, Aug. 20, 2024. Rep. Matt Lockett, R-Nicholasville, objected to the design.
A Republican lawmaker is hoping to close what he calls a 'potential loophole' in a state law governing school restrooms in Kentucky.
Rep. Matt Lockett, R-Nicholasville, has introduced House Bill 163, which would require at least 95% of restrooms within a school building to be designated for 'a specific biological sex.'
It comes after a few Republican lawmakers, including Lockett, grilled Fayette County Public Schools officials last summer about the new Mary E. Britton Middle School, which is set to open later this year. However, a school district spokesperson said the bill wouldn't apply to the proposed design.
The school's restroom design features private stalls with floor-to-ceiling doors and an open communal sink area as a way to allow students to be supervised by adults and potentially curb situations of bad behavior.
Lockett's bill has not been assigned to a committee; lawmakers return to Frankfort next week to resume the 2025 legislative session.
When asked for comment on the bill, Lockett said in an email to the Kentucky Lantern that he filed the bill 'to provide a statewide, clear policy regarding biological sex-specific restroom facilities after concerns were raised about a potential loophole in previous legislation passed during the 2023 Regular Session (SB 150).' That law was omnibus legislation that included several anti-transgender measures, such as requiring schools to create policies keeping people from using bathrooms, locker rooms or showers that 'are reserved for students of a different biological sex.'
Lexington middle school's restroom design draws ire of Republican lawmakers in Frankfort
Lockett said preserving 'gender-specific bathrooms based on biological sex ensures privacy, safety, and comfort for all users.'
'While the issue was brought to my attention by constituents in Fayette County, the measure would address concerns that parents and students have regardless of what school district they attend,' he said. 'We have an obligation to respect personal boundaries and accommodate biological differences.'
Dia Davidson-Smith, a spokesperson for FCPS, said in a statement to the Kentucky Lantern that the school district did not have a comment on the bill at this time, but the restroom plans for the middle school 'have remained unchanged since last year.'
'The restroom designs at Britton Middle School are gender-specific and this bill has no impact on them,' Davidson-Smith said.
Last year, the school district said the restrooms would not be 'gender-neutral' as the pods would be designated for boys or girls. It also added that Lockett's district does not include the part of Fayette County where the new middle school would be, so his constituents would not be impacted.
Superintendent Demetrus Liggins told lawmakers at the time the new configuration would allow adults to better supervise students. He noted that a 2021 TikTok trend encouraged damage and theft, particularly in boys' restrooms, and cost the school district $42,000 in repairs.
According to the 2023-24 School Safety Annual Statistical Report from the Kentucky Department of Education, 13,524 behavior events happened in school restrooms across the state. That accounted for about 5% of all reported behavior events during the school year.
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