Community High School District 117 hasn’t taken making transgender students feeling comfortable in the school setting lightly. On March 14, staff from both Antioch and Lakes Community High Schools met with D117 lawyers to discuss the impact of new legislation regarding accommodating all students.

Less than one percent of people are transgender. When it comes to the school setting transgender students are often met with complications between others’ understanding of the biological understanding of sex and the social construction of gender. District 117 is taking steps to help close this gap and make transgender students feel fully comfortable in the school setting. The most recent initiative being the addition of private changing stalls.

These stalls were added to locker rooms this past weekend. The new stalls allow all students to change in private; in addition to privacy, these stalls allow transgender students to change in the locker room of their choice. This change also allows everyone to have the same high school experience, regardless of gender identity.

“We are trying to be proactive in an evolving issue,” D117 Superintendent Jim McKay said.

D117 currently has no transgender specific policies in place. The district lawyers stressed to staff that it is not the staff’s job to decide if he/she likes or dislikes the subject, rather it is the staff’s job to make everyone feel as comfortable as possible. Transgender students are protected behind District 177’s anti-discrimination policies, however. The meeting focused on transgender student preferences, including the use of correct pronouns and full accommodations for the students.

“We are trying to bring recognition to the subject,” District 117 lawyer Lynn Hymes said. “No one is alone.”