In a statement e-mail to parents on Thursday, Principal Hewitson announced that Lincoln would be introducing a new bathroom type: that of the “All Gender Student”. This new bathroom type will replace two bathrooms on the first floor of the main Lincoln Building, in addition to those already present in the nurse’s office and library. Lincoln will also be introducing a new non-emergency text line: (408)-345-5051, for harassment and bullying in these bathrooms, or other campus locations.

In his statement to parents and students, principal Hewitson said: “Our responsibility as a school is to maintain a safe environment for all students so they can learn and thrive.”

This comes after the video ‘Trans_Non-BinaryMessage’, which called for more transgender bathrooms to be included on the Lincoln campus was selected as a finalist for the Student Voices Campaign, a video competition that asks students how they would improve their school.

Heidi Hansen, assistant principal of Discipline, claims that initial response from both parents and students has been “Mostly positive,” and that, as opposed to opposed, the negative response so far has been more “concerned,” with implementation. She also stated that she believes the Lincoln is the first school in the SJUSD to implement such bathrooms.

Stay tuned for next week’s feature, where Lion Tales goes more in-depth on this topic with an interview and a video.