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Speakers urge changes to district gender-access policy after pool incident; board thanked for response
Summary
Multiple residents told the Racine Unified School District board of a male visitor in a girls' locker room at a school pool and urged rescission of the district policy allowing access based on self-identified gender; the board was thanked for steps taken in response to the incident.
Several residents used the Oct. 20 public comment period to describe a sexual‑safety incident at a district pool and to urge the Racine Unified School District Board of Education to change district practice on access to girls' and women's spaces.
The comments matter because they press the board on the safety effects of the district's current gender‑access approach and referenced one specific, recent incident that prompted community concern.
Joanne Konecki, a citizen, described an incident in which she said a 64‑year‑old man with a criminal history entered a girls' locker room during a public swim session, presented himself as transgender, observed females and later engaged in indecent conduct off site. Konecki urged the board to rescind any policy allowing access to girls' and women's spaces based solely on self‑identified gender and argued for biology‑based protections.
Prescott Balch, a pool staff member who said he reported the incident, thanked the board for the attention staff and the board had given to the matter and for actions taken within legal constraints. Teresa Fandry, another resident, said the incident has kept her family from returning to swim lessons and urged the board to consider safety and the district's response.
Commenters referenced federal and state guidance in general terms; Konecki mentioned Title IX and a change in executive guidance, and she urged the board to adopt a biology‑based approach. The board did not take an immediate policy vote at the meeting; public comment concluded and the board proceeded to action items.
Board members listened and later moved into the business portion of the meeting. The board did not announce new policy changes at the Oct. 20 meeting.
