Dear editor:

This letter is in response to Troy Bray's letter to the editor regarding restroom use in our schools. First, I ask the community of Powell to please consider the source when reading his letter. Please remember that it doesn’t have to be true for someone to say it, which is the case for several of the statements in his letter. I would ask the reader to decide whether Mr. Bray’s statements are serving any purpose to make this situation better? Or fan the flames of a hot issue?

To be clear, there are several misstatements in his letter that distort or misrepresent the facts. Unfortunately in this situation, but fortunately for the safety of our students, as a school district we have to follow federal privacy laws regarding student specific issues. This means we can’t refute many of the misrepresented facts of Mr. Bray’s letter. However, I will remind our community of this: We have some of the best schools not just in the State of Wyoming, but in the country. This is evidenced by almost any metric you can find, such as student achievement, student growth, graduation rate, post-secondary readiness for military, college or career, and the list goes on.

We also have the best teachers, administrators and support staff that can be found anywhere, all who carry the belief that the success and safety of our students is not just their job, it is their calling. I would also submit to you that our board just took the most proactive stance on the issue of protecting girls in their spaces, of any board in the State of Wyoming.

There is not a single board in the state that has a policy prohibiting students from using specific bathrooms. They all face the same legal risks and barriers that I articulated at that board meeting regarding Title IX and current case law. I can also assure our community that regardless of Title IX or court cases, we will not allow our girls to be in unsafe situations. PERIOD.

For Mr. Bray to say that we are passing responsibility, is simply not accurate. As a district we are at a legal roadblock and are using every available tool to break down that roadblock. The primary tool we are trying to use is our state Legislature, who does have the power to evoke change in this area. The last thing I want to communicate is this: We hear you community of Powell. We hear you loud and clear, and we are working hard to seek the change we need to consider policy in our district in this area.

 Superintendent Jay Curtis

Powell