Transgender student ‘kept away from peers’ in gender-based shelters during mass shooting drill
A transgender student was kept in isolation at a school in Virginia while teachers debated which sex-segregated locker room she should be assigned to during a mass shooting ‘lock down’ drill.
Stafford County Middle School was running through its safety precautions in order to prepare its pupils in the event of such a incident when the unnamed student was taking part in a physical education class.
Her peers were then escorted to gender-assigned locker rooms, as planned, while she was forced to sit on the bleachers.
“The student was forced to watch the adults charged with her care, debate the safest place (for the other students) to have her shelter,” detailed local LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Stafford on Facebook. “During this debate, she was instructed to sit in the gym with a teacher until the drill was complete, away from her peers and identified as different.”
The student was forced to sit on the school bleachers while teachers deliberated where to take her to ‘safety’ during the drill (Pexels)
The post also revealed that when the teachers in question had finished ‘discussing,’ she was made to sit in the locker room hallway, by the door.
“During an event that prepares children to survive an attack by actual assailants, she was treated as if she was so much of a danger to peers that she was left exposed and vulnerable,” the same post continued. “These events occur across our country right now but this one happened here.”
‘We take such matters very seriously’
Responding to the social media account, spokesperson Sherrie Johnson released a statement, reading: “The new superintendent has requested a review of all protocols and procedures to ensure that all children are treated with dignity and respect.
“We take such matters very seriously and they will be addressed,” she added. “The welfare of all students is of the utmost importance for SCPS.”
A protest will be held to encourage the school to change its policies on Tuesday 9 October (Facebook / Equality Stafford)
Troubled parents, and others who are concerned about the student’s safety if a violent incident did actually take place, have planned to take part in a protest to demonstrate their concern and urge change to the school’s policies. It will occur during a board meeting on Tuesday 9 October.
It has previously been reported that the same student has faced problems regarding facilities within this school district before. In 2015, parents of other pupils voiced their disagreement with the fact that the student in question was using the girls’ toilets at the establishment.
