ROCK HILL, S.C. — Debates over so-called "bathroom bills" have returned; this time at Rock Hill Schools.
In April, South Carolina state senators approved a budget provision that would require public school students to use bathrooms that match their assigned sex at birth. As the state budget awaits final approval from lawmakers, a Rock Hill school board member is trying to pass a similar policy in the district.
Board member Pete Nosal is proposing a policy that would require all students enrolled in the district to use bathrooms and locker rooms that match their sex. However, district officials say it's unclear if they are allowed to.
“It was brought to my attention that we have a boy, or boys, using the girls' bathroom at Rock Hill High School," Nosal said at a recent board meeting. "These 13, 14, 15-year-old girls do not feel safe and secure in these bathrooms.”
Rock Hill pediatrician Dr. Martha Edwards raised concerns over Nosal's proposal at a board meeting this week.
"I have never had an encounter with any child who came in due to being harmed by a transgender person," she said.
During the meeting, Nosal combatted several things Edwards said and asked where she got her undergraduate and medical degrees.
Beyond Rock Hill, the school bathroom debate is statewide. Rock Hill state senator Wes Climer added a provision to the South Carolina Senate’s version of the state budget that would, in effect, require all public school students to use bathrooms that match their sex.
If this provision is approved, school districts would be at risk of losing state funding if they did not enforce the rule.
When Climer explained the budget amendment on the senate floor, he cited the same individual Rock Hill student whom Nosal mentioned at the district board meeting.
"In order to avoid singling out and causing harm to a small group of students who are already significantly struggling, I think it’s best we trust the administrators and teachers that we have hired to serve all our students," Edwards said.
Edwards worried that the safety and security of transgender students aren’t being considered.
"Our number one goal is safety and security for all students," Helena Miller, chair of the school board told WCNC Charlotte.
She said all Rock Hill schools offer private bathrooms to students who request accommodations. The board is waiting for legal advice on how to proceed with the proposal.
"Depending on what we hear back from the attorney general or legal advice, and also what's happening as far as our state legislation, that could potentially put us for a first read [of the policy] in June," Miller said.
There are federal regulations that ban school bathroom policies like these. South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson is one of several southern Republican attorneys general who are currently challenging those regulations in federal court.
Contact Julia Kauffman at jkauffman@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.