Stillwater Public School Board To Meet After Gender-Neutral Bathrooms Pushback

The Stillwater Public School Board will meet Tuesday following a scathing letter from the Secretary of Education.

The letter questioned the district’s bathroom policy.

The letter follows comments from the Stillwater Superintendent, who told families the district allows students to use the bathroom according to their gender identity.

But Secretary of Education Ryan Walters calls that a dangerous policy and says he's concerned for female student safety.

In the letter addressed to school board members, Secretary Walters asked they make it so students "only use the bathroom of their God-given natural sex."

He claims parents have approached him to say their daughters are afraid to use the bathroom at school.

In another letter sent Friday, Walters asked the State Attorney General to put a stop to the policy. 

“It doesn’t jive with Oklahoma values. Biological males should not be in a bathroom with underage girls. We’re talking about young students. The genders should be separated in the bathroom,” said Oklahoma Secretary of Education Ryan Walters.

State Attorney General John O'Connor also sent a letter to the district's superintendent, saying there is no legal precedent requiring open bathrooms.

In fact, he states it's just the opposite.

The district, meanwhile, says it does not have a bathroom policy on its books.

And as for its practice, SPS says each district building has at least one gender-neutral bathroom.

It's unclear if this will be a point of discussion at Tuesday’s meeting.

But the district did respond to the Secretary of Education’s letter, saying it would welcome "clear expectations" from the state on this issue.