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WPRO News and the Associated Press
WESTERLY, R.I. (AP) – Westerly’s School Committee has shelved a proposed policy that would allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice and prohibit discrimination against transgender students.
The Westerly Sun reports that dozens of residents attended a Town Hall meeting to oppose the policy. Some called it absurd.
Angela Tafone, a sophomore at Westerly High School, said she would not feel safe with boys in the girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms.
A draft of the policy emerged from the school board’s policy subcommittee with unanimous backing.
A spokesman for Education Commissioner Deborah Gist said Westerly is the first district in Rhode Island to consider adopting a transgender policy.
Thirty-two states, including Connecticut and Massachusetts, have policies addressing transgender and gender nonconforming students. Rhode Island does not.
