Premier Scott Moe has addressed the controversy surrounding changing room policies in Saskatchewan schools, pledging a collaborative approach to ensure inclusive and supportive policies for all students. His comments follow a story highlighting concerns at Balgonie Elementary School, where parents raised issues about privacy and comfort due to the presence of biological males in the grade 7 female changing rooms.During a Western Standard interview, Moe clarified that his government has not "backed out" of implementing a changing room policy but is working with school divisions to establish guidelines that support all students..EXCLUSIVE: Sask school allows boys in Grade 7 female changing room, parents outraged."I wouldn't classify the moves we've made as backing out of anything, but just re-approaching it in a much more collaborative way. And so where the comments around the first order of business were likely not appropriate, nor true," said Scott Moe."The first order of business of any potential incoming government is to visit the Lieutenant Governor and form a government, create a cabinet, create a legislative agenda, Speech from the Throne, and get into the house with delivering on the platform that you would have committed to the voters."Moe acknowledged the need for clear policies that ensure no student feels excluded or unsupported..Moe plans ‘biological sex’ changing room policy for schools."That work is now happening with the Minister of Education, engaging with the 27 school divisions to ensure that each and every school division has a policy in place that does just that and so they may not be entirely uniform across the province, but they will be policies that are demonstrably and defensively in place, in support of all of the students in the realm of this conversation," said Moe."So it's more of a collaborative discussion that's happening now with our school divisions ensuring that they all do have policies that are supportive of all children."Parents from various grades at Balgonie Elementary expressed discomfort with current school policy regarding biological boys in traditionally female spaces such as female washrooms and changing rooms..Sask Teachers Federation supports ‘inclusive’ biological boys in female spaces policy.Parents told the Western Standard that some female students avoid using the bathroom or changing for gym class due to being uncomfortable sharing those spaces with biological boys. Moe addressed these concerns by emphasizing the provincial government's role in guiding school divisions to create balanced solutions."What I would say to not exclusively those parents, but all parents, is we do need to have policies in our schools," said Moe. "We need to be clear, but what we are doing as a provincial government is commandeering the collective effort of the heads of those school divisions and ensuring that they do have a policy that would be supportive of those parents' children alongside every other parent that has a child in that school.".MERLE: Here's why Balgonie female changing room scandal is a game-changer for parents rights.Moe reiterated that the government expects school divisions to develop policies that accommodate all children while reflecting the unique needs of their communities. While Moe did not detail what these policies might look like, he expressed optimism about resolving the issue in a timely manner."It's our goal to find our way through that sooner rather than later with the school divisions," said Moe."At the end of it, when parents look at the policy of their school division, it's going to be one that they view as being supportive of their child, regardless of who their child is."As discussions continue, parents and educators await policies that address their concerns in schools across Saskatchewan.
