Putting Our Kids First

8/17/2019 Putting Our Kids First

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Putting Our Kids First Position Statement

As candidates for the HPISD Board of Trustees in the upcoming May 7th

election,

we made the decision to comine together and form a Political Action !ommittee

named Putting Our Kids First" #e share similar perspecti$es on the importance

of our education system to the Par% !ities community, we ha$e long track

records of service to the community and we firmly elie$e that the ne&t si& years

will re'uire strong and experienced leadership as we emar% upon the

transformational facilities impro$ement plan appro$ed y the community in the

recent Bond election" #e also elie$e in researching and studying issues, mastering

the facts, telling the truth, and not attempting to decei$e the community we ser$e"

#hile we elie$e our trac% records consisting of years of acti$e in$ol$ement with

our schools spea% for themsel$es with regard to the upcoming election, our

opposition continues to put forward se$eral specific positions related to HPISD

that we again feel re'uire our perspecti$es in response"

Based on recent email correspondence from the financial and ideological ac%ers

of our opposition, they ha$e stated that all new elementary schools will e uilt

with what they call ()oined*gender+ athrooms" i$en the circumstances, we

elie$e that the community would benefit from the truth"

-irst and foremost, we elie$e any design should ta%e into account the safety and

security of our children" During the early stages of design, a design committeeconsisting of community memers toured other new elementary schools in Te&as

and saw multiple design elements" .f particular interest, ut without limitation,

were design elements that would /i0 e fle&ile and support the quality of the

educational e&perience, /ii0 efficiently incorporate new technologies and allow for

their e&pansion, /iii0 e cost effecti$e and efficient, sa$ing precious M1. funds

that are su)ect to recapture y the State of Te&as, and /i$0 enhance the safety and

security of our students" As a part of these tours, the design committee saw

multiple e&amples of restroom design"

In multiple pulic meetings /none of which the opposition candidates attended0,

the District2s architect presented multiple restroom designs, none of which are

mandated by any governmental entity, other than those applicale to any space

open to the pulic, such as local uilding codes and ordinances" In these pulic

meetings, the proposed design illustrated in the preliminary schematic design

drawings on the District2s wesite was fa$ored y constituents present, although it


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can certainly e changed prior to final drawing eing completed" This will e

o$erseen y a committee, made up of parents and educators, that will e charged

with the responsiility of re$iewing the interior design of the school, including

restrooms"

#e would note that the term ()oined*gender+ seems to e an in$ention of the

opposition" #e can find no mention of this term in architectural literature or e$en

through oogle" The athrooms illustrated in the preliminary schematic plans

ha$e separate bathroom areas for boys and for girls, and each of the oys2 and

girls2 athrooms ha$e private, lockable stalls" This design and similar designs are

considered est practice y school architects, professional administrators, and

security e&perts"

These restroom designs are also greatly preferred y teachers who ha$e the daily

responsiility for the supervision and safety of our students" Dri$ers of the preference for this type of design are the safety and security of young children who

could e isolated in a closed restroom, ease of ingress and egress in the e$ent of

emergency, and etter super$ision y teachers and support personnel" Today, in the

District2s elementary schools, the ma)ority of teachers are female" This design

allows teachers of the opposite se& to directly monitor and super$ise the separate

wash area where the faucets and sin%s are located /which also tends to promote

health and hygiene0, as well as ha$e etter presence, without intrusion, o$er the

pri$ate restroom areas" Secondary considerations are cost effecti$eness and

efficiency" !ontrary to the opposition2s con)ecture, studies show that this designreduces so*called (horseplay"+

To put this issue into perspecti$e, in the interests of safety, our current elementary

schools prop opens the doors of historic athrooms during the day" Also, here are

some recent e&amples of other schools with similar configurations for restrooms"

This is not an e&hausti$e list y any means, ut it is a representati$e cross section

of schools which ha$e similar configurations, some of which are essentially the

same as the new elementary school has een schematically proposed" Anecdotally,

the superintendent of the -risco ISD has stated that their schools follow a similardesign concept"

Ir$ing ISD 3 Townsell 4lementaryIr$ing ISD 3 Stipes 4lementary

!arrollton -armers Branch ISD 3 !arrollton 4lementary

!arrollton -armers Branch ISD 3 5a6illita 4lementary!arrollton -armers Branch ISD 3 ood 4lementary


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!arrollton -armers Branch ISD 3 Blanton 4lementary

Denton ISD 3 Paloma !ree% 4lementary

Denton ISD 3 5antana 4lementaryDenton ISD 3 !ross .a%s 4lementary

Denton ISD 3 Haw%s 4lementary

Denton ISD 3 ay8or 4lementaryDenton ISD 3 yan 4lementary

9orthwest ISD 3 Peterson 4lementary

!oppell ISD 3 5ee 4lementaryBurleson ISD 3 The Academy at 9ola Dunn 3 4lementary

Belton ISD 3 5a%ewood 4lementary

!ypress* -airan%s ISD 3 4lementary :;

Desoto ISD * #oodridge 4lementary4agle Pass ISD 3 lass 4lementary

4agle Pass ISD 3 San 5uis 4lementary

4nnis ISD * -renship ISD 3 #illow Bend 4lementary

5ewis$ille ISD 3 Peter2s !olony 4lementary

5ewis$ille ISD 3 5ewis$ille 4lementary5ewis$ille ISD 3 Independence 4lementary

5ewis$ille ISD 3 5a%e$iew 4lementary

Spring ISD 3 loria Marshall 4lementary

In conclusion:

! "estrooms in new schools will be designed to ensure student safety and

individual privacy! #he preliminary bathroom design is considered best

practice by school architects, professional administrators, and security

experts, but can be modified!

$! %esign of the new school is preliminary at this point, and all aspects will

be reviewed by a committee of parents and educators before being

finali&ed!

'! %esign criteria for school restrooms is not dictated by governmental

mandates, other than those applicale to any space open to the pulic, such

as local uilding codes and ordinances"

(gain, the opposition is attempting to deceive the community with inaccurate


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information and unsupportable innuendo! #e ")*)+# the oppositions

deceptive practices and we encourage each and e$ery one of you in the

community to drill down and D. ?.@ 4S4A!H on the issues we face as a

community and the candidates in$ol$ed"

There is a tremendous amount of information that is, and has always een, pulicly

a$ailale to re$iew on the HPISD wesite /httpwww"hpisd"org0" Please feel free

to email us at the address elow with any 'uestions, as we stand ready to answer

any and all of them to the est of our aility" More than anything we re'uest that

you get out and -O#)"

Sincerely,

)dward .erring, Paul "owsey and Kelly /alker

4mail puttingour%idsfirsthpCgmail"com

Please sign up for our email list by contacting us at the address above, "e0uest

a yard sign, and most importantly,-O#)1

Documents

Putting Our Kids First