Thank you again everyone for signing and sharing the petition! 
Your voice is being heard over here!

My husband and I met with Mr. Ned Clooten, the superintendent, yesterday. I gave him a printed list of all of your names and your shared comments! He asked permission to share it with the school board members and I agreed to that.

It was a good meeting. Neither my husband or I had met Mr. Clooten before this. I found him to be warm and inviting, thoughtful and well-spoken about the design. He asked in more than one way why we are against the current design and seemed to genuinely want to know all he could about our position. He was really trying to understand the objections. I was happy my husband was able to be there. We both object to the open bathroom space, but we have completely different perspectives on the subject because our needs as man & woman are different. 

Highlights of our discussion are the following: 
 1) this plan was well-thought out and purposeful to meet as many needs as possible, including the staff/teachers/administrators. Mr. Clooten does have other considerations beyond our concerns about safety. He also has to provide a facility that meets the restroom needs of the diverse population of students, such as disabled students. He has to find a way to empower the teachers/ staff to oversee student behavior as well as mitigate potential safety issues, bullying or other shenanigans. He must overcome the challenges of meeting the needs of transgender people, while following the law. He did a great job explaining all of those challenges.  
2) it's fair to say that the plan cannot meet everyone's needs perfectly, so we knew that going into the meeting.  Compromise must be allowed or present. 
3) he heard our objections and the reasons for them, but he doesn't agree that there are safety, privacy issues with the published plan.

We continued the discussion about all aspects, but kept coming back to the sinks being in a shared space. I explained that the open concept and having boys/men in the same space as girls/women leads to a lack of privacy, which lends to feeling unsafe, vulnerable, embarrassed, and afraid of emotional or physical injury. Like many others, I think it is really hard for him to come to that conclusion or to make that connection. To help him understand, I shared a few very specific potential scenarios where a boy or girl may need to use the sink in private for personal hygiene after an bathroom accident or problem. I pointed out that cameras recording & taking a live feed, the fact that is open to the hallway and people walking by and open to the opposite sex would be embarrassing and likely lead to bullying and teasing in a situation like that. 

It became clear to me there will not be any consideration to move back to same sex/ traditional boys & girls bathrooms. I think that ship has passed. 

BUT, I asked if all of the common sinks could be eliminated and an individual sink could be added to every single one of the individual "closets" or bathroom stalls. This would allow anyone to do all their business privately, including personal hygiene. 

I am relieved he agreed to ask the architect to re-evaluate the current set up to find out if there is enough space to do reconfigure it. I plan to go to the Nov 25th board meeting and will ask to address the board, as well. 

He emphasized a few times that he presents information to the school board and the school board members are the people who have voting rights...in essence the 5 board members will make this decision once it is presented. 

So, he encouraged us to call and or meet with each of the school board members to have the most impact on the outcome and to help them understand these points and our passion to advocate for this. 

It was a 2 hour meeting and I think gave you the most important parts about our discussion. If you want to express your own opinions and reasons for being against this plan or if you have questions about the project, meet with or call Mr. Clooten. If you want to have impact, reach out to every one of the school board members. 

And please continue to kindly relay your stories and motivations on social media or when talking to friends/family, to help them understand. 

The next school board meeting is on November 25.  You can ask to address the board at that meeting by contacting the president of the board TODAY. There is a deadline for getting on the agenda or to be a guest. Contact info is below.

Thank you again for all who have reached out to me in person with encouraging words or who have defended my character on social media. I have been heavily scrutinized for being vocal, for standing my ground and in many instances for simply disagreeing with people. It really is a shame that there are so many indecent and unkind people out there!

Mr. Clooten shared a video walk through of the bathroom renderings that you can view on Facebook or on YouTube.  I encourage you to watch it so you know exactly what the proposal is with the communal sinks. This plan does not label one side for the girls & the other for the boys. They are all up for grabs by anyone, according to Mr. Clooten.  I asked him that question directly.  
https://youtu.be/jl2WDL3dG_I?si=-vMMboE0ZdgE9Vrp

Now, get to work.  Commit to making your voice heard in some way. 
Blessings, 
Grace Kurtz
gracekurtz@gmail.com

Superintendent Ned Clooten:   
Email. ned.clooten@dlschools.org
Phone. (701) 662-7640

Board Members
Cory Meyer, President @ cory.meyer@dlschools.org
Emily Foss @ emily.foss@dlschools.org
Jason Hodous @ jason.hodous@dlschools.org
Sheri Olson @ sheri.olson@dlschools.org
LeeAnn Johnston @ leeann.johnston@dlschools.org