Board chair: ‘All substitutes know they’re not to use student bathrooms’
A Connecticut school district is in a bit of turmoil following the termination of a “gender-neutral” substitute teacher who had used a student restroom.
At a recent North Haven School District board meeting, members of the local LGBTQ community demanded “urgent action” on the situation which has lingered since last month, the New Haven Register reports.
LGBTQ advocates were upset about “hateful” and “transphobic” online comments about the substitute (who uses the honorific “Mx” and whose “style of dress is gender-nonconforming”), and the issue was discussed at September’s board meeting.
Advocates continued to voice concerns at the most recent meeting, saying some parents’ and others’ remarks about the bathroom issue amounted to a “hateful and a direct assault on the dignity and humanity of the LGBTQ+ community.”
Jamie Krzmarzick, co-chair of the LGBTQ+ support group North Haven Pride, said the “continued misgendering of [the] substitute teacher highlights the urgent need for comprehensive professional development for the entire Board of Education and all school personnel.”
Krzmarzick (pictured) also alleged the substitute “had a microscope on them” the moment they started work at their school.
Board of Education Chair Ronald Bathrick pointed out that “all substitutes know they’re not to use student bathrooms.”
“I’m not going to call out a colored teacher, a Black teacher, a Puerto Rican teacher, a trans teacher — no,” Bathrick said. “Teachers are teachers … They have a guideline to follow.
“If they do not follow the guideline, they are disciplined — and [the sub] was … I cannot discriminate against the teacher.”
The meeting included several speakers on various sides of the issue, each of whom appeared to have strong support from others in the audience.
Some speakers questioned the timing of the district informing parents about what happened, including who was notified and when, as well as the district’s response to the incident itself.
Bathrick said the incident “was dealt with immediately” and “there was no real time lag.” …
“The people who were directly involved were notified,” Bathrick said. “… Because of their age, you can’t just lay everything out there.”
The substitute was hired through a third party, according to both parents and school officials.
Krzmarzick’s husband said the reaction of some parents to the substitute issue reminded him of the backlash to the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision.
“I think if history has taught us anything … it’s that people who are on the side of hatred, the side of discrimination, are not looked kindly upon as you get into future generations,” he said.
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IMAGES: Facebook; FOX-61/YouTube
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