The Waterloo School Board saw another board meeting Monday with turnout comparable to its March meeting, with the community once again impassioned about transgender students accessing gendered bathrooms at Waterloo High School.

This turnout is, at least in part, seemingly due to an email shared by the school district Friday.

That letter opened by noting the board has continued to “further research, discuss and debate the topic of a gender identity policy” for the district.

It went on to say that, after writing and passing the policy with consultation from the district’s appointed law firm Kriha Boucek, the board has more recently consulted a second law firm, Guin Mundorf, to discuss the potential legality of segregated restrooms.

While, as the email stated, many in the community as well as several members of the board support segregated restrooms for transgender students, both law firms “advised and agreed that current law requires the district to allow transgender students to use the bathroom of the gender in which they identify.”

The letter adds that the new policy appears to follow current federal and state law, though the district has requested its legal counsel continually update on any possible changes to the law in the future.

While the letter concluded by noting that community members can contact the board through the district website as well as at the June 26 board meeting, it also linked to a Google Doc meant to respond to questions those in the district might have about the legal precedence surrounding the policy.

This document first notes that, if the board were to establish a policy going against state and federal law, the board and potentially, individual board members could face liability.

The second part of the document offers an in-depth description of the law and court precedent surrounding the access to certain accommodations transgender students must have.

Chief among the cited laws is the Illinois Human Rights Act, which establishes freedom from discrimination against any individual based on race, age, sex, religion and sexual orientation among other characteristics.

The act further notes that “gender-related identity” falls under the umbrella of sexual orientation.

With the WHS library unusually stuffed full of community members, Monday’s meeting proceeded through the consent agenda and various district reports before the floor was opened to many individuals who were looking to speak.

First among those was Zac Scheetz, who expressed frustration with the board for sending the previously mentioned email just a few days prior to the meeting.

He further commended the group of students who participated in the initial protest about transgender students using gendered bathrooms in March, going on to insist the board isn’t following the popular voice of the community.

Scheetz also criticized the lawyers whom the school board has spoken with about the new bathroom policy, suggesting one of these lawyers often posts “propaganda” on Twitter.

Melissa Milano was next to speak. She suggested the comfort of students wasn’t among the board’s concerns as it formed the new policy.

“If the school board wanted to actually do something for safety, there would be more supervision in the restrooms, ensure more privacy in the locker rooms and focus on an effective and consistent school response to harassment,” Milano said. “Those are policies that all of us can get behind.”

Milano also expressed concerns about how the policy would work in regard to after-school activities, adding that those speaking out against the policy and transgender students using gendered bathrooms isn’t meant to be a display of intolerance.

Next to speak was recent school board candidate Nathan Mifflin, who first noted there is substantial concern about this issue within the community, pointing to a petition he’s conducted in Waterloo over the last several weeks that has accumulated 843 signatures.

During his presentation, Mifflin emphasized his belief that allowing transgender students to use the bathroom which aligns with their gender is dangerous and will inevitably lead to issues like girls being sexually assaulted or boys being accused of harassment.

“You are putting them at risk physically and mentally, and it’s not a matter of if these things will happen but when,” Mifflin said. “And it will happen because you let it. It will happen because the school board let it, because the superintendent let it and because the administrators are letting it happen. I hate to think about whose child will be the one sacrificed on the altar of bad decisions and cowardice created by our board and our superintendent and our administrators.”

Numerous other individuals who weren’t officially signed up to speak also offered thoughts later on.

Jessica Harrelson said she has three kids in the district with one in high school. Harrelson said she has told her daughter to call 911 if she encounters a male in the bathroom.

David Bass was among the calmer speakers Monday, reading aloud a list of questions he said would be sent to the board, among them how students will know which students are approved to use certain bathrooms and how the board will handle any legal liabilities that could result from the policy.

Jeff Rock suggested this issue involves two opposing world views, adding that the majority in the community have conservative views, and the opposing views can’t co-exist.

A number of people also spoke out in support of transgender students in the district, though they too expressed dissatisfaction with the new policy and the board’s conduct.

Among these speakers was Elizabeth Hahn of downtown Waterloo business Philomena+Ruth, who offered a pre-prepared speech on behalf of Waterloo Listens.

Hahn opened by recounting events that led to the new policy, saying the protest in March was specifically a demonstration against trans students using bathrooms that align with their gender identities.

She also mentioned how various rumors and other misinformation were spread about trans students in the weeks following this demonstration.

Hahn stressed how the new policy seems to go against best practices recommended by the U.S. Department of Education, specifically noting the importance of confidentiality for trans students and the harm that can be done when trans students are outed to parents who don’t support their identity.

Also signed up to speak was Leo Ramseur, a transgender boy at WHS who shared thoughts via Zoom.

At the beginning of his speech, Ramseur noted his favorite color and books as well as his family life, emphasizing how he is an average teenager.

Ramseur also discussed harassment he has faced while at school – particularly following the protest in March.

“I am a 16-year-old student, and I have had other parents call my trans peers and me, among other things, a mental disease, tell us that we are the evil in this world, that we mutilate our bodies and that we are a distraction to our peers’ education,” Ramseur said. “I am a 16-year-old student, and my peers have reached under my stall door and grabbed my leg and pants, have been called numerous slurs, have been threatened to be run over or have my car keyed and told to touch my genitals to prove I am a real man. I am a 16-year-old student who has to defend his rights to adults on a Zoom call on a Monday night.”

Like Hahn, Ramseur stressed how dangerous the policy can be for transgender students, describing the importance of providing a safe environment for them to explore and grow.

He further questioned the need for the policy given how he and transgender peers have been the ones experiencing harassment in the bathrooms, saying, “Why is it that when I am bullied and harassed in the bathrooms, I am the one who must be regulated?”

Dawn Schulte of Waterloo Listens was a speaker not originally on the agenda. She questioned the motives of those in the audience insisting their concerns were about protection.

“When you veil your bigotry under the guise of protection of your students, that is not admirable when it overreaches and it specifically puts others in danger,” Schulte said. “And that’s what we’re looking at.”

Schulte also asked the board about a recent grant from the It Gets Better Project that had been presented to the district, with $10,000 intended to go toward inclusion and diversity education.

Waterloo Listens recently accepted these funds on behalf of the WHS Diversity Club.

Waterloo Superintendent of Schools Brian Charron responded to this question, saying the grant had been presented to him personally and he is not allowed to accept such donations greater than $500.

Should the grant have been presented to the board, Charron said, then there would have been a process to determine whether or not this funding was coming from a neutral party before a decision could be made about accepting it.

Still another individual who spoke was Daniel Flaum, who identified himself as a former WHS student who experienced assault in the boys locker room.

Flaum, who also shared his story at the March board meeting, suggested trans students shouldn’t be punished when they haven’t done anything, also saying that helpful solutions to the situation could include floor-to-ceiling stalls, distress buttons and additional single occupancy bathrooms.

Amid the many members of the public who spoke during Monday’s meeting, several members of the board also found themselves voicing their opinions.

First to do so was Johnny Caupert, who responded to Bass’ questions. 

Overcome with emotion, Caupert cursed as he started speaking, saying he is “being ripped in f****** half” on this issue as his personal feelings and sense of obligation to the board and school conflict.

Caupert explained why he voted to approve the policy despite his personal objections.

“When I was elected to this Board of Education, a public school, I was elected to not only represent every single one of you. I was elected to represent every single child, regardless of gender, race, religion or sexual orientation,” Caupert said. “We, by passing this policy, we said, ‘We’re gonna take the first step. It’s a difficult one.’”

Within Caupert’s speech, he referenced Mifflin’s petition, saying he would introduce a motion to change the policy should it get enough signatures.

After the meeting, he spoke to the Republic-Times to say that such a petition would require 2,890 signatures ­– signatures from each parent of a majority of students – each of which would need to be verified in order to confirm they are members of the school district.

Board member Kim Ahne also spoke, offering some facts about how the policy was developed.

Board member Lori Dillenberger spoke as well, saying members of the board are just as passionate as the citizens in attendance.

Charron, too, spoke at some length during the public participation section of the meeting. One of the larger points he expressed is the challenge the board faces in responding to questions during the meeting.

“There have been a number of times where we want to engage and answer questions, and too often it is shouted down, and that’s what really makes me sad here,” Charron said. “I appreciate the passion, but both sides need to respect that just because it’s your opinion doesn’t mean it’s everybody’s opinion. And just because you might be the majority of people in this room, you may not be the majority in this community.”

Charron also grew somewhat passionate in responding to criticism from Scheetz, who suggested the board pushed the policy through without people being fully aware of it, noting diminishing attendance between the March and May meetings.

“I don’t make people come to the board meeting,” Charron said. “If they’re not interested in coming, that’s not our fault. We have business to get through. We post the agenda publicly. You know that. You see it. You look at it. You call me, and you talk about that.”

After the meeting’s public participation, the vast majority of individuals attending both in-person and via Zoom left, leaving the board to contend with more typical agenda items.

Among these items was the approval of a bid for the electrical switchboard material at Zahnow Elementary.

Several new employees were approved for the coming school year, as was authorization for the superintendent to spend no more than $35,000 to purchase a maintenance truck for the district.

Earlier in the meeting, Waterloo School District Athletic Director/Waterloo High School Dean of Students Brian Unger addressed the board for his final report, as he is resigning from his position.

Unger offered his thanks for his time in the district over the last three years, joking that the substantial meeting turnout was all for him.