Regina Public Schools sees change rooms outcome as a positive

The head of Regina Public Schools is giving the decision to let school divisions create their own change room policies a thumbs-up.

On Thursday, the province announced it is requiring divisions to create and implement a policy on who can use which change rooms, and have that policy available by June 30. But Education Minster Everett Hindley explained that the province won’t dictate what’s in the policies, except that they must support the dignity, comfort and safety of all students.

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Mark Haarmann, director of education at Regina Public Schools, said he was pleased with the province’s plan.

“Here at Regina Public Schools we’re in pretty good shape,” Haarmann said.

“We do have an administrative procedure in place that does deal with washroom and change room accessibility.”

He said when the ministry asked for feedback in December, his division responded by saying the policies should be the responsibility of local boards and school divisions.

“I think we have a very good read of our Regina community, of our staff, our students, our families, our stakeholders, and what we have in place is working,” Haarmann explained.

Haarmann said there were some worries when Premier Scott Moe made his first comments about change rooms in schools, saying he would implement a policy that banned students from using a change room that does not conform to their “biological gender”.

“I felt that there was going to be some concern with meeting what was said and aligning it with what the expectations around human rights and the safety and comfort and dignity of all students,” said Haarman, repeating that he was happy the education minister found a good way of working through it.

Haarmann said he considers his division to be a provincial leader on this issue. The administrative procedure it uses, #353, is already available on its website.

The section on washroom and change room accessibility is relatively short, taking up four paragraphs of the five-page document.

It explains that students have the right to use the washroom and change room that matches their gender identity. It talks about staff consulting with the students and/or their parents or guardians on the students’ safety and comfort. The policy also talks about providing a reasonable alternative to students who want more privacy. Lastly, the procedure also talks about gender-neutral options.

“The division will ensure that gender-neutral washroom requests can be accommodated at all of our locations,” said Haarmann.

He explained that the current iteration of the administrative procedure has been in place for more than a year, and it’s been working.

“We’ve had one situation that I’m aware of that we were able to sort of work through by finding some accommodations that would have met the needs of all students, but in a general sense I’m assuming that there have been other ones that principals have handled by following the administrative procedure,” said Haarmann.

He said the division doesn’t see change room issues as something that’s happening regularly.

The procedure was built after consultation of students, parents and division employees, Haarmann noted.

“It does kind of reflect what it is that the city of Regina and our citizens, our communities, believe,” he said.

But, Haarmann added, the division will review the document to make sure it conforms with what the provincial government was looking for, and that it is even more transparent.

Looking at the other three school divisions in the province’s two largest cities, two already have policies in place.

The Regina Catholic School Division said in a statement that its administration prioritizes student safety, well-being and its Catholic faith. It said its current procedures comply with both the human rights code and the Charter.

“Regina Catholic Schools will work with our stakeholders to create a clear and supportive changeroom administrative procedure,” explained the division.

Saskatoon Public Schools said it also already has an administrative procedure on change room use which requires that students have safe washrooms and change rooms, and private spaces are provided at every school.

“We will follow the ministry’s directive and undertake a review of this administrative procedure following AP 121, Review of Administrative Procedures, which includes consultation with families,” read the division’s statement.

Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools said it didn’t already have a change room policy in place, but will review the direction from the ministry and create a policy as required.