Burke's Makes Most Bathrooms Gender Neutral
Continuing on a path paved by the release of a Gender Inclusion Statement and the addition of pants to the uniform code, Burke's has made the majority of restrooms on campus gender neutral.
It was a move thoughtfully decided upon by the Gender Inclusion Subcommittee of the Diversity Task Force, as well as one for which students had been advocating. After their reading of the book Gracefully Grayson last year, the Class of 2018 created posters for the Upper School about the various ways in which transgender people are discriminated against, including some about outdated bathroom rules.
With the May release of the Gender Inclusion Statement and Burke's affirmation to educate any student who identifies as a girl, accommodations needed to come to campus to ensure that everyone feels safe and that they belong to the Burke's community.
Most single-stall bathrooms have been outfitted with signs indicating that they are "All-Gender Restooms." The remainder of the single stalls are for adults only in consideration of our male teachers. All but one multi-stall restroom have signage indicating that they're for girls/women, as those restrooms are often used by our students for changing into athletic uniforms and Burke's does not have a locker room. One multi-stall restroom in the Gymnasium will remain for boys/men due to the number of events we hold on campus as well as a timeframe that prohibits remodeling that restroom to install ceiling-to-floor stalls.
These facilities will also ease difficulties for both traditional and non-traditional families.
These facilities will also ease difficulties for both traditional and non-traditional families.