Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania school boards up window openings that allowed views into its gender-neutral bathrooms
What to Know
- A Pennsylvania school district has reversed course and boarded up window openings it recently installed that allowed people in a middle school hallway to peer into two gender-neutral-designated bathrooms.
- South Western School District Superintendent Jay Burkhart said Friday that the two windows were installed in recent weeks following an August vote by the district’s conservative-majority school board.
- The board president said the move was designed to monitor and prevent misbehavior.
- Such openings weren’t installed in any of the school’s non-gender-neutral bathrooms. Burkhart says the openings were covered by plywood on Thursday on the advice of lawyers from the Harrisburg-based Independence Law Center, a conservative legal group the board consulted before ordering the windows installed.
A Pennsylvania school district has reversed course and boarded up window openings it recently installed that allowed people in a middle school hallway to peer into two gender-neutral-designated bathrooms, the superintendent said Friday.
The two windows were installed in recent weeks following a vote in August of the South Western School District’s conservative-majority school board, a move the board president said was designed to monitor and prevent misbehavior. Such openings weren’t installed in any of the school’s non-gender-neutral bathrooms.
The openings were covered by plywood on Thursday on the advice of lawyers from the Harrisburg-based Independence Law Center, a conservative legal group the board consulted before ordering the windows installed, Superintendent Jay Burkhart said.
“I believe that we have to protect all of our students,” Burkhart said in a phone interview. “Students are entitled to privacy and I don’t want to violate that.”
The board “has been targeting transgender students and stripping away their rights for a while,” said Kristina Moon, a lawyer with the Philadelphia-based Education Law Center, which has asked affected students to reach out to it. She said the “multiple tiers and assignments” of bathrooms “overcomplicated a nonissue,” stigmatizing students.
“Now they’ve cut actual holes for windows into the student bathrooms — but only the bathrooms they expect trans and nonbinary children to use. This is a horrifying violation of children’s privacy and cruel discrimination targeted against trans and nonbinary kids,” Moon said in an emailed statement.
The mother of an eighth-grader at Emory H. Markle Middle School in Hanover said Friday that she considered the decision to cover up the windows “a small victory.”
Jennifer Holahan, who drew attention to the bathroom window openings by posting a photo on social media, said she’s “nervous to see” what happens at a meeting next week of the conservative-majority school board.
“This has been a continuing agenda that they’ve had,” Holahan said in a phone interview. “They’ve proved this more than once. I think this is the first time that the school board president has been shut down. And I just wonder what’s to come from that.”
School board president Matthew A. Gelazela, elected as a Libertarian in 2021, told a reporter seeking comment Friday that he considered the call to be criminal harassment and abruptly hung up.
Earlier this week, Gelazela issued a statement defending the bathroom windows as a safety improvement — that “in making the area outside of stalls more viewable, we are better able to monitor for a multitude of prohibited activities such as any possible vaping, drug use, bullying or absenteeism,” the Evening Sun of Hanover reported.
Gelazela’s statement also warned students that they should not consider the bathroom areas outside of the toilet stalls to be private.
Markle Middle School Principal Wes Winters directed questions about the bathroom windows to Gelazela. Board member Justin Lighty declined to discuss the matter, while several other board members and the board’s lawyer didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
In an emailed statement, the ACLU of Pennsylvania described the school board’s policy as discriminatory and one that makes children less safe. The South Western School District has about 4,400 students.
The York Dispatch reported this week that the board has been looking into LGBTQ+ students and bathrooms for more than a year, acting on concerns from unspecified people to establish five bathroom categories: male and female based on sex assigned at birth, male and female based on gender identity, and single-user facilities that are deemed gender neutral.
Gelazela said during an Aug. 14 board meeting that the windows were part of bathroom changes meant to bolster privacy, the Dispatch reported. The vote was 6-3 in favor of adding the windows, though the Evening Sun reported that work had already begun when the vote was taken.
Holahan said the window openings not only allowed people in the hallway to peer into the bathrooms, they also let noises from the bathrooms be heard. Burkhart, the superintendent, said the two gender neutral bathrooms have not been a particular problem for the type of misbehavior Gelazela cited. The renovations cost $8,700, Burkhart said.
At least 11 states have adopted laws barring transgender girls and women from using girls and women’s bathrooms at public schools, and in some cases other government facilities.
As for Pennsylvania, the Education Law Center wrote in a January analysis that federal appeals courts have ruled students have a right to use bathrooms and locker rooms aligned with their gender identity. Moon, a senior lawyer for the center, said all children have the right to use an easily accessible bathroom convenient to their classes that affords them true privacy and does not discriminate based on sex and gender identity.
PITTSBURGH (KDKA/AP) — Week 5 of Pennsylvania high school football is here.
With plenty of big storylines for teams throughout Western Pennsylvania, it’s going to be an exciting season.
After the games, you can find all the latest scores and highlights from around the state right here!
SEARCH FOR YOUR TEAM’S SCORE:
Beaver Area 42, Deer Lakes 0
Belle Vernon 68, Chartiers Valley 21
Bellefonte 43, Philipsburg-Osceola 0
Berks Catholic 35, Kutztown 34
Berlin-Brothersvalley 10, Tussey Mountain 0
Berwick 41, Greater Nanticoke Area High School 0
Big Spring 30, West Perry 13
Biglerville 17, York Catholic 14
Bishop Canevin 42, Serra Catholic 0
Bishop McCort 34, Westmont Hilltop 14
Blue Mountain 55, Lehighton 14
Bonner & Prendergast 41, Father Judge High School 14
Bradford 27, Smethport 12
California 44, Carmichaels 8
Cambria Heights 43, Conemaugh Township 6
Cambridge Springs 54, Cochranton 0
Central Martinsburg 40, Penns Valley 6
Central York 62, Northeastern 13
Chambersburg 28, Carlisle 13
Clairton 70, Springdale 0
Conestoga Valley 28, Governor Mifflin 21
Connellsville 17, North Star 7
Corry 48, North East 0
Delone Catholic High School 40, Hanover 7
DuBois 62, Ridgway 18
East Stroudsburg North 21, Pleasant Valley 20
Eastern York 49, Dover 0
Elizabeth-Forward 56, Derry 14
Elwood City Riverside 14, Freedom 0
Emmaus 31, Whitehall 7
Fairview 10, Fort LeBoeuf 0
Farrell def. Kennedy Catholic High School, forfeit
Forest Hills 42, Central Cambria 6
Fort Cherry 35, Cornell 6
Frankford 14, Boys’ Latin 6
Franklin Regional 52, Fox Chapel 14
Garnet Valley 41, Radnor 0
General McLane 48, Warren 6
Harbor Creek 31, Girard 12
Harrisburg 33, Altoona 0
Hickory 56, Titusville 21
Interboro 36, Penn Wood 8
Jim Thorpe 39, Catasauqua 0
Kane Area 20, Brookville 14
Kiski 36, Latrobe 13
Lewisburg 41, Midd-West 7
Line Mountain 55, Middletown 21
MD School for the Deaf, Md. 40, Mercersburg Academy 6
MLK 20, Gratz 14
Manheim Township 38, Cedar Crest 13
Meadville 62, Franklin 6
Mechanicsburg 42, Northern York 14
Monessen 14, Chartiers-Houston 7
Montgomery 45, Northwest 8
Montoursville 44, Central Mountain 7
Montrose 13, Holy Redeemer 0
Mount Pleasant 28, Greensburg Salem 21
Mt Union 46, Juniata Valley 0
Muncy 59, North Penn-Mansfield 20
New Oxford 43, Kennard-Dale 6
North Hills 21, Plum 14
Northern Cambria 28, Penns Manor 0
Northern Lehigh 42, Wilson 7
Northwestern Lehigh 35, Pottsville 0
Olney 18, Edison 12
Palmerton 44, Palisades 21
Parkland 56, Allentown Dieruff 6
Penn Cambria 45, Chestnut Ridge 7
Penn Charter 21, Wyoming Seminary 0
Penncrest 21, Upper Darby 0
Perkiomen School 29, Coventry 28
Pittsburgh Central Catholic 56, Shaler 7
Pope John Paul II 41, Pottsgrove 0
Richland 49, Greater Johnstown High School 14
Schuylkill Valley 42, Columbia 6
Scranton 31, Wallenpaupack 7
Scranton Prep 27, Abington Heights 21
Selinsgrove 14, Shikellamy 7
Seneca 27, Eisenhower 14
Seneca Valley 31, Canon-McMillan 30
Seton-LaSalle 49, Sto-Rox 0
Shamokin 28, Williamsport 16
Sharon 35, Grove City 0
Sharpsville 35, Mercer 6
Shippensburg 35, Gettysburg 7
Souderton 44, Bensalem 13
South Philadelphia 7, Academy at Palumbo 6
South Western 27, West York 7
Southern Lehigh 43, Tamaqua 7
Susquehannock 21, York Suburban 14
Troy 50, Wellsboro 20
Tyrone 32, Huntingdon 7
Unionville 20, Avon Grove 7
United Valley 28, Portage Area 0
University, W.Va. 17, Butler 13
Upper Dauphin 30, Camp Hill 21
Upper St Clair 17, South Fayette 7
Valley View 21, North Pocono 14
Western Wayne 42, West Scranton 16
Wilkes-Barre 21, Pittston 10
Williams Valley 47, Panther Valley 0
___
Some high school football scores are provided by Scorestream.com, https://scorestream.com/
Pennsylvania
It’s up to Pennsylvania voters to decide what kind of attorney general they want, and whether independence matters | PennLive Editorial
Who gets your vote to become the next Attorney General of Pennsylvania depends on what you care about most and whether you want someone with experience as a state official or as a prosecutor at the county level.
It also depends on whether you want someone with the courage to take independent stands apart from party politics and powerful officials.
Former President Obama is preparing to hit the campaign trail next week for Vice President Harris, focusing on key battleground states in the lead up to Election Day, according to a senior campaign official with anonymity to discuss the matter.
Obama, who served back-to-back terms as president from 2009 through 2017, will kick off his drive in the Pittsburgh area of Pennsylvania on Thursday, a state which remains one of the tightest contests in the nation and which could tip the scales for either candidate.
A Fox News survey of Pennsylvania voters last week found Harris narrowly ahead of Trump by 2 points (50-48%) among registered voters, while the race is tied at 49% each among likely voters. President Biden won the state by more than 80,000 votes in 2020.
‘GOING TO BE A CLOSE ONE:’ DETROITERS REVEAL IF THE CITY IS LEANING TOWARDS HARRIS OR TRUMP
Former President Obama speaking during the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois on August 20. Obama is preparing to hit the campaign trail next week for Vice President Harris, focusing on key battleground states in the lead up to Election Day. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
President Obama’s Senior Advisor Eric Schultz tells Fox News that the 44th president is determined to help Harris and other Democrats get elected.
“President Obama believes the stakes of this election could not be more consequential and that is why he is doing everything he can to help elect Vice President Harris, Governor Walz and Democrats across the country,” Schultz said.
“His goals are to win the White House, keep the U.S. Senate, and take back the House of Representatives. Now that voting has begun, our focus is on persuading and mobilizing voters, especially in states with key races. Many of these races are likely to go down to the wire and nothing should be taken for granted.”
Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama officially endorsed Harris for president in July, five days after President Biden ended his 2024 re-election in a blockbuster announcement.
President Obama then stumped for Harris at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August, saying she “is ready for the job.”
“It’s up to all of us to fight for the America we believe in,” Obama said. “And make no mistake: It will be a fight.”
“This is a person who has spent her life fighting on behalf of people who need a voice and a champion. Kamala wasn’t born into privilege. She had to work for what she’s got, and she actually cares about what other people are going through.”
NEW POLL INDICATES WHETHER HARRIS OR TRUMP IS MAKING GAINS WITH YOUNGER VOTERS
Vice President Kamala Harris takes the stage on Day 4 of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 22. (REUTERS/Mike Segar)
Harris and Obama’s friendship goes back 20 years to when they met on the campaign trail while he was running for Senate in Illinois, the senior campaign official says. Harris was an early supporter of his 2008 presidential campaign and even knocked doors for him in Iowa ahead of the caucus, per the official.
Last month, former President Obama headlined a fundraiser for Harris that raised $4 million, per the Washington Post.
His fundraising efforts so far on her behalf have raised $76 million, per the outlet, according to Schultz.
In the coming weeks President Obama will sign additional fundraising emails, record candidate-specific ads and robocalls for down-ballot races and travel the country for a coordinated “get out the vote” effort, Schultz says.
Harris’ campaign is headed by Jen O’Malley Dillon Harris, a veteran of Obama’s two campaigns who also managed President Biden’s 2020 campaign and built his 2024 operation from the White House.
Other former Obama advisers on the Harris team, include David Plouffe, who was manager of Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008 and a senior aide during his 2012 re-election victory. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Vice President Kamala Harris, left, arrives to speak at a campaign event with former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., right, at Ripon College in Ripon, Wis., on Thursday. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Harris campaigned in battleground Wisconsin on Thursday where she campaigned with former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney.
Trump, meanwhile, is scheduled to return to Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday for a campaign event. It will mark his first return to Butler since the attempted assassination on July 13.
During a rally Wednesday in Mint Hill, North Carolina, Trump said that he wanted to return to the venue to “finish our speech.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
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