Pupils return to school – and find loos have been turned gender neutral
A SECONDARY school has provoked uproar by introducing unisex toilets for its 1,000 pupils as part of a £1million revamp.
Children returning for the new term at Little Lever School in Bolton were shocked to find the new mixed, shared facilities.
Head teacher Dominic McKeon defended the new open-plan toilets, saying they had separate cubicles for boys and girls, with only sinks and hand-dryers shared.
He said the new block near the school canteen was built as part of a switch to two lunch sittings so pupils did not need to go to the other side of the building as before.
But after some parents threatened to remove their children from the school, a climbdown is now expected when the school’s governors meet.
It follows a growing trend towards ‘gender-neutral toilets’ led by employers including the BBC and Channel 4, with supporters claiming transgender staff are more comfortable with these facilities.
To cope with rising pupil numbers, lunch has been divided into two half-hour sittings, and the block near the canteen was meant to make things more efficient.
But some parents were furious after learning of the move when their children returned to classes after summer.
In a bid to defuse the row, Mr McKeon who took over in 2016 - posted pictures of the new toilets on Facebook to show each cubicle is fully enclosed with a ‘male’ or ‘female’ sign. However, parent, Jennifer Jones, said: ‘This should have been discussed with parents first where we could
‘Could make girls feel uncomfortable’
voice our opinions and concerns.’ Another mother, who did not want to be named, said: ‘I am going to put my daughter into another school.’ Her daughter, 14, added: ‘I helped a girl to find the toilets and she saw a young boy go in and didn’t want to use them.’
Local Ukip councillor Sean Hornby said: ‘Using the same toilets could make girls feel uncomfortable as they enter puberty.’
Yesterday the school was preparing to climbdown after accepting the backlash made the situation untenable.
Mr McKeon said: ‘We’re going to take action which may involve adapting the facilities themselves or changing the system, but that decision will be taken at a meeting of the governing board next week.’
The school insists the decision to install unisex toilets is not linked to the needs of potential transgender pupils and was simply motivated by making the nearby canteen more efficient to enable two lunch sittings to be accommodated.
It comes Ofsted’s head said he supported bringing in ‘gender-neutral’ toilets as long as they are ‘well-supervised’. A number of schools have adopted new toilet and changing room arrangements to help children who are transgender.