Bonneville is right to make school bathroom rules clear for staff
Bonneville trustees directed the superintendent to require staff certifications, bringing employee practice into line with Idaho’s school bathroom privacy law.
Bonneville School District 93 is right to make Idaho’s school privacy rule clear for staff as well as students. On Oct. 17, 2026, East Idaho News (@EastIDNews) posted: “MAN OR WOMAN? Teachers in Bonneville School District 93 will soon be required to sign a form certifying that they are either a biological male or female.”1
IdahoEdNews reports that Bonneville trustees approved the resolution on Wednesday night, Oct. 14, directing the superintendent to create a form employees must sign certifying their biological sex as defined in Idaho code. District leaders said the requirement will help the district comply with Senate Bill 1100. Superintendent Scott Woolstenhulme told employees, “As a public school district, we have a responsibility to comply with Idaho law, regardless of our individual perspectives about it.”2 Parents should expect school rules to mean the same thing in an employee handbook and outside a girls’ restroom.
Certifying biological sex gives employees an explicit starting point. Schools should not leave that boundary open to individual reinterpretation.
“As a public school district, we have a responsibility to comply with Idaho law, regardless of our individual perspectives about it.”
Idaho’s student privacy law remains in force
Idaho’s attorney general’s office says Senate Bill 1100 requires students to use bathrooms, locker rooms, showers and overnight facilities corresponding to biological sex, with single-occupancy accommodations for students who prefer them3.
A student and the Sexuality and Gender Alliance challenged the law on equal-protection, Title IX and privacy grounds, the office said. It reported that the Ninth Circuit unanimously affirmed the denial of a preliminary injunction and that the challengers subsequently agreed to dismiss their case and appeal3.
Attorney General Raúl Labrador’s conclusion was direct: “Idaho families can be confident that this law is fully in effect and will remain so.”3
Employees confirm records through confidential HR
Respect for employees does not require ambiguous rules
A requirement to state biological sex should be straightforward, respectful and limited to its legitimate administrative purpose. Respect for employees does not require a district to make biological reality negotiable.
Nor should staff be left to invent competing interpretations of a shared-facility rule. The district should explain the requirement plainly and apply it consistently.
Boise’s policy left a girl without privacy
Boise’s bathroom dispute exposes the cost of conflicting rules The account of the Boise school bathroom dispute describes the answer a girl received after reporting the incidents to staff: it was their policy to allow males who identify as female to use the bathroom of their choice.
That answer puts the conflict in plain sight. A girls’ restroom cannot provide a dependable sex-based boundary if staff treat a male student’s identification as permission to enter. The girl seeking privacy should not be the person expected to surrender it.
Idaho schools must enforce clear privacy rules
The Idaho Legislature identified SB 1100’s purpose as establishing “privacy and safety standards in public schools.”4 District leaders should make those standards real through clear instructions and consistent enforcement.
Bonneville’s certification requirement deserves support as a step toward that clarity. A signed form should begin the work, not substitute for it.
Parents should ask their superintendent directly: Will staff enforce sex-based boundaries in shared facilities? Will the district provide the single-occupancy alternative? Will a girl who reports a violation receive protection? Idaho school leaders should answer yes—and act accordingly.
Sources
- @EastIDNews on X, 2026-10-17: MAN OR WOMAN? Teachers in Bonneville School District 93 will soon be required to sign a form certifying that they are either a biological male or female. https://www.eastidahonews.com/2026/10/bonneville-teachers-required-to-certify-their-biological-sex/, 2026-10-17
- Bonneville teachers required to certify their 'biological sex'
- AG Labrador Defends Idaho School Bathroom Privacy Law as Challengers Drop Lawsuit - Idaho Office of Attorney General
- SENATE BILL 1100 – Idaho State Legislature
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