Fayette Co. Schools Alert Update: Response to FCPS Misinformation on Gender-Neutral Bathrooms

Following our action alert yesterday, many of our supporters took action to contact the Fayette County Public School Board with their concerns over the restrooms at the forthcoming Mary E. Britton Middle School. We appreciate the numerous community members that joined us in reaching out to the board. As our Director of Policy Nick Spencer stated in a video update yesterday, the democratic process only works when people get involved, so thank you for making your voice heard!

Following increased media scrutiny and the attention of the Kentucky General Assembly in this week’s education committee hearing, it is clear that FCPS is now attempting to reinvent the facts and narrative surrounding their concerning bathroom policy. 

It was also brought to our attention that many of those who took action following our alert received an email response from FCPS board chair Tyler Murphy. While we applaud Mr. Murphy’s responsiveness and willingness to engage on this matter, The Family Foundation is concerned about the way in which Mr. Murphy misrepresented the facts surrounding Britton Middle’s construction. Further, we have additional concerns that stem from an official (and deceptive) FCPS statement posted to their website which can be viewed here.

As part of the effort to change the narrative, FCPS’ statement claiming that gender-specific restrooms would not be eliminated from Britton Middle School “where appropriate” does not provide real clarity, nor does the claim that the new restroom design is included to “add options” for students to increase safety. In his email response, Mr. Murphy states “the proposed bathroom design at the Mary E. Britton School, or any other schools for that matter, is not going to allow boys and girls to use the same restrooms, and anyone who tells you otherwise is misinformed.” Such a statement is at odds with the District’s official statement of only having gender-separated restrooms where appropriate.

Further, both the statement from FCPS and Murphy’s email contradict the District’s own renderings that they included in their presentation to the Interim Joint Committee on Education on Tuesday. The rendering (seen above) clearly shows gender-neutral signage on restroom doors with boys and girls congregating together in and around the same restroom.

The statement and email are also at odds with the district’s facility programing guidelines (pg. 34) that call for “non-binary or inclusive toilet design that is not gender specific” and multiple media reports (see here and here) from February that reported Britton Middle School would have gender-neutral bathrooms where “boys and girls would share the same bathroom” with confirmation from FCPS Chief Communication Officer Dia Davidson-Smith that “it is the safest type of construction for a bathroom.”

In an effort to gain greater clarity on these concerns and encourage transparency for Fayette County parents and taxpayers, The Family Foundation will be present during the upcoming FCPS board meeting on Monday, August 26th at 6:00 p.m. We continue to encourage the engagement of Fayette County residents on this issue, and would invite those interested to be present for the board meeting alongside us.

Those wishing to attend the meeting and offer public comments will need to be present at the district office (John D. Price Administration Building, 450 Park Place – see map here). To provide public comment, you will need to register in-person prior to the 6:00 p.m. start time. If you have any questions regarding the meeting, reach out to our Director of Policy, Nick Spencer at [email protected].

FCPS states that their interest in changing the restrooms is the safety and wellbeing of students. We agree that the safety of students is of the utmost importance, but we disagree that a gender-neutral, floor-to-ceiling, open design is the safest approach. It is simply wrong for FCPS to eliminate, or even reduce, sex separated bathroom facilities, which would force girls and boys to share the same bathrooms. Female students deserve their own bathroom facilities that will protect their privacy and safety.

It is time for FCPS to put an end to placing radical gender ideology ahead of the wellbeing of its students. We continue to call upon FCPS to provide full transparency to parents and taxpayers on FCPS building guidelines and bathroom policies moving forward.

In addition to attending Monday’s school board meeting, if you have not already sent a message to the board and Superintendent, we encourage you to send a message through our action center>>>