Clovis Unified makes changes to accommodate transgender students

Clovis Unified has made several changes to locker rooms in all intermediate and high schools to accommodate transgender students. But some parents feel the district is not doing enough.

Video from Clovis Unified School District showed some new additions to all locker rooms in intermediate and high schools.

"We installed anywhere, depending on the size of the locker room-- current locker rooms-- in the changing area 3 to 5 changing stalls. And we're checking to see how the utilization is right now because they're non-permanent," said Norm Anderson, Clovis Unified School District.

District officials said the new privacy areas were installed at the beginning of the school year in an effort to make all students feel comfortable when having to change for PE or sports.

The stalls come nearly three years after California passed a law requiring schools to let transgender children use a bathroom that matches with their gender identity.

"For all of our students, it became an issue of is there something we can do that would help our students feel more comfortable inside locker rooms changing. Because we realize there are body image issues, there's a lot of issues rather than just this law changing," said Anderson.

Recently several parents of students at Alta Sierra Intermediate School have shown up to the Clovis Unified School Board meetings upset that their children have to change in front of transgender students in the locker room. Josh Fulfer is from the parent-organized group "Stop the Madness CUSD".

"There is a lot of uncomfortable children. A lot of parents that believe this is morally incorrect and so they don't want their children-- this to be imposed on their children."

Fulfer feels his children's privacy rights are being taken away.

"They're still in the same locker room, so when you walk out of that privacy stall, if there's someone in the opposite sex changing, you're walking right by them anyways. So the privacy stalls really didn't do much to help."

Fulfer proposes at home PE for certain children.

As for restrooms-- Clovis Unified said all campuses already have single use restrooms, but officials have launched a pilot program providing additional individual restrooms on a semi-permanent trailer at two campuses to see if they are in high demand by students.