Monday saw yet another meeting for the Waterloo School Board featuring talk about the district’s gender identity and bathroom policy, though other items also received attention.

Following a 45-minute delay while the board held an extended executive session, the meeting opened with public comment.

Waterloo High School Spanish teacher Rene Koeneman was the first to speak, introducing herself as Waterloo Classroom Teacher Association Union President.

Koeneman’s presentation centered around district teachers and the effort they put into their work.

Among her larger points was the work teachers put into 27 clubs at WHS, leading to benefits like students learning communication skills and pursuing scholarships. She noted that only 10 of these faculty sponsors get paid a stipend for their work with clubs.

When her three minutes to speak were finished, Waterloo School Board President Lori Dillenberger requested that Waterloo Superintendent of Schools Brian Charron make a list of teachers who are not compensated for their work with clubs at WHS, though Koeneman responded by saying she was speaking to remind the board about the work teachers put in.

She was later allowed to return to the podium to conclude her speech. Koeneman said the biggest reason people move to the community is Waterloo’s schools, and the district should move forward with all stakeholders to ensure all students receive a high quality education.

“I want to make sure we take a moment to recognize the extras that our teachers do every single day for our students,” Koeneman said. “We do this because we love what we do, not for the money. We love what we do, let me repeat that. We believe in our students.”

Following the meeting, Charron remarked that he believed Koeneman offered her thoughts in response to “the negativity that exists in the community at this time, as a reminder for the contributions our teachers make to give students opportunities.”

Jessica Harrelson was next to speak, having previously addressed the board in September regarding an FOIA request covering estimates and quotes gathered by district administration for any bathroom renovation projects.

She opened by recalling she had previously requested Charron step down as superintendent over his “lack of transparency” regarding these figures, adding she received an email following the September meeting providing her with an additional figure that was not included in the original FOIA response.

Harrelson said that Charron  had previously said he received quotes for “$3,000, $5,000, $15,000, $75,000, et cetera and on up” to renovate the bathrooms at WHS, arguing that only some of these figures are matched by the “quotes” he received.

As previously reported, Charron shared with the Republic-Times several figures for potential bathroom renovation projects, some quotes and some estimates. Specifically, these are projects ranging in cost from $18,630, $57,023, $356,298 and roughly $30 million.

Following the meeting, Charron said he is unaware what Harrelson is referring to in regard to the figures she said he had previously shared.

Harrelson continued, referencing an email from the FOIA response in which, as she described, Charron “gave permission in a July 7 email to Aaron Keistler of FGM Architects to proceed with the construction in the boys bathroom of the high school,” a project which she said did not receive approval from the board until the July meeting.

The project in question was the installation of stalls surrounding urinals in two boys bathrooms at WHS, which was approved by the board in August. 

The email Harrelson referenced was a reply to Keistler sharing estimates for the project. Charron’s response was, “Let’s proceed. The board would like this completed ASAP.”

After the meeting, Charron explained that this message was him giving permission to Keistler to begin working with an installer for the project in order to acquire a quote and get the project scheduled.

Pursuing quotes in this way, per Charron, is within his authority as the threshold for a bidding process is $35,000 – double if the project involves maintenance or repair of buildings.

Harrelson further questioned the apparent mistake in her FOIA response – the omission of one of the figures Charron had acquired – asking aloud what mistakes might have been made in other FOIA requests.

She also expressed disagreement with Charron’s email following the September meeting.

“Mr. Charron, in your email, you accused me of being angry and having a need to grandstand because I chose to address you publicly instead of in private,” Harrelson said. “Brian, I have heard plenty of parents talk about demeaning, rude and threatening conversations that took place privately or via email.”

Harrelson went on to describe how she will continue to “fight for my kids,” encouraging those in the district who have received “demeaning, rude or threatening” messages from Charron to share them with the board.

Domenic Petruso was the last individual signed up to speak, opening by acknowledging the silence in the auditorium at last month’s meeting after Dillenberger requested comments on the district’s gender identity and bathroom policy.

He went on to share his personal thoughts about the situation.

“Propaganda,” Petruso said. “The opposition to common sense policy regarding the safety and privacy of the kids in this community when it comes to bathrooms and locker rooms is spewing typical propaganda. How many times do they repeat that there are only a few angry parents? That they are homophobes? That they are bigots? All of this is propaganda.”

Petruso suggested that a majority of people are against the district’s gender identity and bathroom policy, inviting members of the community to speak against it.

Petruso added that “we are all watching a sinister form of child abuse happening right in front of us in broad daylight.”

He further spoke about gender identity and transgender acceptance, saying “gender confusion” is not new, but the boosting of it is.

After his presentation, Petruso asked Charron about the $30 million dollar bathroom renovation project which has been discussed, prompting Charron to discuss the various proposed projects.

He noted the $17,000 urinal stall project – the only project the board has committed to – as well as a roughly $57,000 per bathroom project to install floor to ceiling stalls in the high school’s bathrooms.

The other discussed projects, with estimates given at roughly $300,000 and $30 million, are, respectively, to replace a high school computer lab with a bank of single-occupancy bathrooms and replace every bathroom in the district with a single-occupancy bathroom.

Charron acknowledged the cost of these projects, adding the previously approved urinal stall project had been completed in one of the boys bathrooms.

“All these things, they do come in at an enormous financial cost, and those are things that the board of education are taking into consideration,” Charron said. “Like I said, we started with the most economical option and the one that could get done quickly. So that’s what was done literally this morning.”

Beyond the gender identity and bathroom policy discussion, the board touched on a number of different items.

Two action items toward the end of the meeting concerned a Waterloo Junior High School faculty disciplinary matter.

The first, the approval of a two-day unpaid suspension of the teacher, was not taken up by any member of the board. The second, the approval of a notice of remedial warning, was unanimously approved.

Though Charron did not offer further information regarding the situation, he did confirm the two items both concerned the same teacher.

The board also approved a bid for an asbestos abatement project at W.J. Zahnow Elementary as well as the Ten-Year Health/Life Safety Survey of WJHS covering future projects at the school.

The final action item of the evening was acceptance of an “irrevocable letter of retirement” from Charron effective June 30, 2027.

The board approved, and Charron offered additional explanation after the meeting.

“Basically, it’s just official notice to the board that I’m planning on being done at that time,” Charron said.

Amid reports, several administrators in the district spoke positively about recent work, with WHS Principal Lori Costello specifically noting how impressive the recent homecoming had been.

“I just want to reiterate what an amazing homecoming we had,” Costello said. “Thanks to the teachers and boosters for donating their time, efforts. They spent a lot of time just so our kids could have an amazing week. We had over 800 kids attend the homecoming dance, which is a record.”