The Conejo Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) pretended to back off a project to build gender-mixing restrooms at Newbury Park High School (NPHS) — only to redirect that money to a project with the same kind of restroom at the same campus.
The proposed STEM building at NPHS includes gender-mixing restrooms paid for by Measure I.
The Conejo Guardian reported this spring that the City of Thousand Oaks approved $705,000 to fund the construction of gender-mixing restrooms — which State and local leaders refer to as “All Access” bathrooms — at Newbury Park High School. After the report and the public outcry, CVUSD announced it had momentarily paused that project. Superintendent Mark McLaughlin posted on the district website, “… this [gender-mixing bathroom] project is in a holding pattern at this time …” Mclaughlin credited the pause “to cost estimates, and the potential loss of bathroom stalls on campuses based on the current, proposed project design.”
But the school district then shifted the money to a different project — the new STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) building at NPHS — which also includes a gender-mixing restroom.
‘What would inspire you to do this?’
Maria, a Newbury Park resident, in asking the CVUSD school board how they could require male and female students to share bathrooms on school campuses.
Indeed, the district is racing to construct gender-mixing bathrooms using Measure I funds at all of its campuses, meaning boys and girls of all ages, plus adults of any gender, will use the same restrooms with virtually no separation from one another. It is doubtful that Conejo Valley voters, who approved Measure I as a school bond measure in 2014 to support “renovation and modernization projects” in local public schools, knew that the money would go to build gender-mixing restrooms at every campus, from kindergarten through high school.
The proposed STEM building at NPHS includes gender-mixing restrooms (“All Access”), as seen in the accompanying image from the Measure I Citizen’s Bond Oversight Committee.
Brian Mercer, the new principal of Conejo Valley High School and formerly the district’s director of high school education, told students and parents at an advisory council meeting in May that the district is considering how to add even more gender-mixing bathrooms to the Newbury Park campus.
CVUSD’s gender-mixing mania continues to evoke public outrage.
‘You need to stand up against the State on this one and say, “Hey, we’re not gonna do this. Not here in T.O.” Because at some point, you might have to ask yourself how you could have prevented some tragedy.’
John, a Thousand Oaks resident, speaking to the City Council.
At the Mar. 27, 2024, school board meeting, Maria, a Newbury Park resident, asked the board how they could require male and female students to share bathrooms on school campuses. “What would inspire you to do this?” she asked. She was also concerned that teachers or campus workers might “also be allowed to share bathrooms with students” and asked the board to clarify.
The board addressed none of Maria’s concerns during or after the meeting.
City residents also pressed the city council on its role in funding the controversial bathrooms.
In April, John of Thousand Oaks addressed the council: “You all voted the consent calendar to include bathrooms used by both boys and girls … I’ve hit my limit where I’ve got to say something, and I think we should all reach that limit at some point and say something. I think you need to stand up against the State on this one and say, ‘Hey, we’re not gonna do this. No, no, not here in T.O.’ Because at some point down the road, you might have to look in the mirror and ask yourself how you could have prevented some tragedy or something bad.”
Jim, a 30-year resident and parent of three local graduates, plus multiple grandchildren, said, “I haven’t seen one of them that is in favor of this action. I think we’re missing that key right there. A lot of them are just darn well not comfortable with, sorry to say it, for whatever reason, with the opposite sex in that same bathroom with them. There is a sense of privacy. … I would dare say it’s their right to privacy that is maybe being infringed upon and that can be reconsidered.”
Councilman Kevin McNamee asked city manager Drew Powers if the council had any flexibility to strike an item, such as the gender-mixing restrooms, from the funding request. Powers said, “TOPASS was established in 1984. It stands for Thousand Oaks Plan to Assist School Sites. It’s a holdover from the redevelopment era.” He explained, “The county distributes money … directly to the school district per terms of that agreement. … [T]he school district sends over a list of capital projects that they intend to use the funds for, and the council adopted that for the terms of the agreement. We don’t select projects. We’re not part of the project.”
CVUSD selected David Atkin Construction, Inc., to build the gender-mixing restrooms for $500,885. According to the district, that money is now shifting toward the construction of a STEM building at NPHS.
Concerns about the co-ed bathrooms violating students’ privacy and threatening safety are a top concern of parents and students. Many believe the floor-to-ceiling stall door designs will also facilitate drug use and sexual encounters on campuses.
