San Jose school district installs gender-inclusive bathrooms
A transgender bathroom sign inside of an art exhibit titled Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, New Mexico on July 2nd, 2016. (AP Photo/Gene Lower)
SAN JOSE, Calif. (BCN) - The San Jose Unified School District has begun officially designating all-inclusive restrooms at all of its campuses and offices, district officials said.
The process began during the 2016-2017 school year and should be completed by the end of 2017
Lincoln High School in San Jose was the first to designate all-inclusive restrooms. It did so in May 2016, after the LGBTQ campus coalition advocated for them, according to district officials.
The district says "all-inclusive" is defined as open to all gender identities, including male, female and transgender.
Each school site will have at least one single-occupancy student bathroom in or near the health office with signs identifying it as all-inclusive.
"Our students have handled this change with appreciation, maturity and respect," Lincoln High Principal Matt Hewitson said in a statement.
Hewitson said school security and administrators monitor safety and guard against harassment and bullying.
Lincoln also provides text lines for students to report incidents in the all-inclusive bathrooms, the district said.
There have been no reported incidents in more than a year, according to the district.