Principal Alan Goodwin announced the addition of two gender-neutral bathrooms, labeled “Restroom,” next to the staff lounge on the first floor in an email to Whitman staff Thursday.

The process to get the bathrooms started in early November when the head of the Gay Straight Alliance approached Goodwin about installing gender-neutral bathrooms. Whitman follows the lead of other MCPS schools like Walter Johnson and B-CC, that added gender neutral bathrooms earlier this year.

“We have been working with MCPS to establish bathrooms for our transgender students,” Goodwin wrote. “The signage is in and finally being installed today.”

The arrangement allows any student or staff member to use the bathrooms, which are single stalls. Prior to the addition the only single stall bathrooms available to students uncomfortable using the designated “Mens” or “Womens” restrooms were located in the nurse’s office.

“I have a transgender friend who has to go from possibly the WAUD all the way down to the nurse’s office to feel comfortable,” freshman Adrian Knappertz said. “She’s afraid to use female restrooms because she’s afraid of being persecuted for identifying as female. I think the gender neutral bathrooms are a good solution to that.”

Other students feel that the new bathrooms, while a step in the right direction, aren’t going to create drastic change.

“I’m pretty ambivalent. They’re not bathrooms that I see myself using, so to some degree it doesn’t affect me that much,” sophomore Isaac De Marchi said. “I’m glad other people have that option but I’m content with the current policy.”

Goodwin reaffirmed MCPS current policy in his email after a recent incident. The policy states that if a male transgender elects to use a male bathroom instead of the designated gender-neutral bathrooms, he is allowed to do so, and vice-versa.

“We had an incident yesterday where a staff member questioned a male transgender for being in a men’s bathroom. He said that he should not be. It was a mistake and so we’ve corrected that,” Goodwin said.

SGA and administration are working to inform students on MCPS policy. If it appears teachers haven’t informed students of the policy and students don’t know the policy, administration plans on making an announcement after break, Goodwin said.

“We just want everyone to know if they don’t feel comfortable using one of the two bathrooms they have the option to use those bathrooms,” SGA president Ari Gutman said.