A petition is underway to get a local primary school to change its toilets, with over 1,000 signatures from concerned parents and students.
Redevelopments at Clifton Springs Primary School have seen new toilet blocks built on the premises, all of which are unisex with no gender-specific facilities.
The new unisex facilities include three female, three male, and two unisex cubicles but all share the same washroom, prompting dozens of parents to voice concern about their children’s safety and privacy.
The Department of Education says the toilets have been constructed after “consultation with school leadership” and the designs have been welcomed by the “overwhelming majority of families at Clifton Springs PS.”
But, frustrated parents say while initial communication from the school when the plans were announced in 2021 suggested the unisex toilets would be built separate to existing gendered toilet blocks, this is now not the case.
Jessica, mother of four children including three daughters aged 5, 7 and 10-years-old currently attending the school, said parents have been ‘gaslighted’ during the process.
“We’re absolutely all for unisex toilets, we’re for everyone feeling safe, having their privacy and feeling inclusive, but that doesn’t mean removing female toilets and removing male toilets and having them all joint,” she said.
“We just feel like we’re not being heard and it’s almost like it doesn’t matter how many people complain.
“We started a petition on Saturday night which we now have nearly one-thousand signatures on, it’s been shared over 400 times, it’s getting a lot of traction.
“We didn’t want to do this, we want people to know that we did contact the right avenues, we did put things in writing, we had meetings with the school, we contacted the Education Deparment.
“We’ve gone through all the right avenues but we’re still being ignored.”
The Education Department is bound by the Universal Design Policy in relation to the design and installation of new toilets, with the Department stating similar designs have been incorporated into many school build projects.
Jessica believes it could put some vulnerable children at risk and lead to parents needing to look to enrol their kids elsewhere.
“People are very concerned about the mixing,” she said.
“We also unfortunately have had kids with trauma and abuse in the past so this has put them in a very awkward position.
“A lot of the kids have actually signed the petition.”
The change.org petition page reads religion, privacy, puberty, and girls and periods are among some other concerns for parents.
“There’s a lot of parents that if it doesn’t get changed, they’re going to be pulling their children out (of the school),” Jessica said.
“There’s also going to be a lot of parents that have said they enrolled their children next year that won’t be going if they don’t change it.
“We don’t want that, we love the school, all of the people involved are wonderful and I don’t think they’ve done anything on purpose.
“This is a bigger issue and they’re trying to do it in all schools.”
