An adult man claiming to be a woman went into a girls’ locker room and exposed himself to four minors, according to a new letter.
The alleged incident violated the girls’ right to privacy, the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) said in the letter, sent on April 19 to the Sun Prairie Area School District.
After taking part in a physical education class at Sun Prairie East High School on March 3, four girls went into the girls’ locker room to shower and change for the rest of the day, the institute said. When they entered, they encountered an 18-year-old man who is a senior at the school.
“While the girls were surprised to see him in the locker room, they had a general idea that this student identifies as transgender and has used girls’ bathrooms before. While they were uncomfortable, they proceeded to the shower area without interacting with the student,” the letter says.
“The girls entered the shower area with their swimsuits on, which was their common practice as they rinsed off. As they began to shower, the male student approached them, entered the shower area, announced ‘I’m trans, by the way,’ and then undressed fully and showered completely naked right next to one of the girls. He was initially turned towards the wall but eventually turned and fully exposed his male genitalia to the four girls. Understandably, the girls were caught off guard and shocked, closed their eyes, and tried to hurry up and leave the showers as quickly as possible.”
Another student who heard of what happened told an associate principal but instead of complying with federal law and reporting the incident to the school’s Title IX coordinator, the official said the girls could approach her.
“No one from the District contacted any of the girls’ parents at that time, and no one investigated. To be clear, that means that the District’s initial response to this incident violated Title IX,” WILL stated.
A mother of one of the girls later spoke to Renee Coleman, the school’s principal, who also failed to adhere to federal law, according to the letter.
An in-person meeting between the girls’ parents and school officials finally took place on April 5 but officials allegedly would not say what they would be doing in response to the exposure. “There was no indication that the District intends to address this matter in any way or change any policy,” WILL said.
On April 10, Coleman apologized in an email to one of the parents and said that the situation “should not have happened.” The school would “continue to work to ensure no one has a similar experience,” Coleman said, without identifying any specific steps that had or would be taken.
The principal also sent a one-page document from the school district that stated male students can use the girls’ locker room.
“If a transgender student makes any request regarding the use of locker rooms or any similar type of changing area, the request shall be assessed on a case-by-case basis with the goals of: (a) facilitating the transgender student’s access to the District’s physical education curriculum and other relevant programs; (b) ensuring adequate student privacy and safety; and (c) minimizing stigmatization of the transgender student,” the document states. “The physical layout of the facility and the degree of undress required when changing for the applicable activity are examples of factors that will be considered in making the arrangements. There is no absolute rule that, in all cases, will require a transgender student to access and use only the locker rooms and other changing areas that correspond to the biological sex the student was assigned at birth.”
The document does not say what happens if the male does not make a request.
School officials failed to protect the girls’ rights under Title IX, WILL lawyers say. “Four freshman girls taking a shower in their swimsuits in what is supposed to be a private and safe space, were exposed to the male genitals of a senior student against their will,” they said.
Because the male in question is an adult, he may have violated state law that forbids exposing a child to genitals.
The school district said in a statement to news outlets that the letter “provides neither an accurate nor complete account of the events that occurred,” adding: “The district had previously addressed this incident when it was brought to our attention. Steps have been taken to ensure that it does not recur.”
WILL is asking the district for documents including emails and texts between Superintendent Brad Saron and Coleman regarding the incident, as well as documents relating to when the district’s locker room and restroom guidance was put into place.
“School districts need to think through what loosening boundaries for single-sex spaces could mean for girls. Parents are understandably concerned about whether school districts—like the Sun Prairie Area School District—are doing everything required to protect girls in bathrooms and locker rooms,” Libby Sobic, WILL’s director of education policy, said in a statement. “WILL is calling on the district to act promptly to restore a sense of safety and privacy in its schools.”