School districts on their own to communicate Utah's new bathroom bill to students

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — As schools across Utah are getting ready to enforce the new bathroom laws based on sex at birth, parents are wondering how educators will explain the new rules to their students.

The new law will go into effect May 1 and will require students go to the bathroom that matches their biological sex at birth.

The Utah State Board of Education issued a statement that said they were never asked to provide any guidance on how to instruct communities about the new law. However, one educator said it may be for the best that the state hasn't given any instruction about it.

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Jesse Sirivanchai has a transgender daughter in elementary school. For the 2023-24 school year, she was allowed to use the girls’ bathroom instead of being required to use the boys’. Sirivanchai said that has made this school year a lot easier for his daughter.

“Because of this one fix, it has made our lives so much better. I can’t even tell you how much better this year is than last year,” he said.

All of that changes for them in May.

Sirivanchai believed school districts should have invited members of the trans community to weigh in on what the most effective way would be to explain the bathroom rules.

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Even if the children are allowed to use a faculty bathroom, he believed that would further isolate those students, leading to more bullying.

“The district really needs to assess their responsibility to keep children safe when they’re forcing them to be isolated and held to different standards from all the other children," he said.

The Utah State Board of Education issued a statement that said they were not asked to give LEAs any guidance on how to present these bathroom rules to their communities.

It said, in part, “LEAs will determine how best to communicate the requirements listed in the bill to the students and families in their respective communities.”

MORE: Protestors rally at Utah State Capitol to oppose 'transgender bathroom bill'

Some educators said this may be the best strategy.

“Local control over local schools has always been very important to Utahns," Canyons School District Spokesman Jeff Haney said. "Our elected school board, they are the people who set the policies and the direction of the Canyons School District.”

Haney said districts know their communities better than the state does, and they know the best ways to create messages that connect better.

“Perhaps, it’s not best that there is a boilerplate plan given to districts by the state on how to provide guidance to the community on how the law will be followed,” he said.

Haney said school district officials are putting the finishing touches on their plans to present these bathroom rules, and they hope to have that finalized in the coming weeks.

The rules will have to be enforced statewide starting May 1.