Community divided as PRJUSD board revisits transgender student policies

By Camille DeVaul · Wed Nov 19 2025

Parents, students, and trustees clash over bathroom access, campus safety, and repeated calls to revisit district rules

PASO ROBLES — During the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District board meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 18, parents, students, trustees, and district administrators weighed in on campus safety, bathroom use, and the board’s repeated debates over state-mandated protections involving transgender student policies.

Liz Tashma, parent of a transgender athlete at Paso Robles High School, addressed the board during public comment and criticized Trustee Kenney Enney, who has previously requested the board revisit the district's policy on transgender students using the girls’ locker rooms, restrooms, and participating in girls sports at PRHS.

“You have continuously pushed this board to reconsider a resolution which would remove current board policies that support transgender students,” Tashma said. “In addition, you have threatened to request this item to be agendized at every meeting in the future. What a waste of time ... you have chosen to target a very small group of students, those who identify as transgender.”

Tashma said that instead of focusing on other challenges the district faces like “lagging test scores” and “declining school enrollment,” Enney has chosen to target the transgender students and is more concerned with his own opinion on the subject.

She also addressed a recent social media post by Enney that had parents calling her worried about her child’s safety on campus.

“Your public comments directly endangered my child by stirring unwarranted fears and misunderstandings,” Tashma said. “During board meetings, you have stated that some students have told you that they feel unsafe or at risk. But an investigation proved that to be unfounded. They aren’t unsafe, but they may be uncomfortable being around people that they don’t understand.”

PRHS senior student Addyson Wollerman also spoke to the board during public comment about her experience on campus this year. She explained that at the beginning of the school year, she noticed a “biological male” using the girls’ bathroom as a hangout spot with his friends regularly.

“I felt uncomfortable and violated in a space that should feel safe,” Wollerman said.

She further explained that on Sept. 18, she filed a report with the school and was told it would be reported to a higher-up staff, but she never heard back and filed a second report a week later, on Sept. 25, and met with the vice principal to explain the situation and how it was affecting her.

“Instead of addressing the problem, I was given three options,” Wollerman said. “Each of which required me to change my routine.”

Wollerman told the board that the three options she was give were:

1. Use a single-stall gender-neutral restroom that doesn’t lock
2. Request access to a private area in the nurse’s office
3. Or avoid the restroom during lunch and nutrition when he wasn’t in there

“None of these options protected my privacy. They simply made it my responsibility to adjust while the actual situation was ignored,” Wollerman said. “Weeks went by, and no one ever followed up with me. Not once. No one checked in to see if the problem was still happening or if I felt unsafe. It felt like my experiences and the experiences of other girls who reported the same concerns didn’t matter.”

Wollerman said that on Oct. 14, she emailed the entire board and said the responses she received were “discouraging.”

“In general, I was basically told that because of the law, there wasn’t much that could be done,” she said. “That made me feel like the adults for protecting us were more concerned about the liability than listening to the students asking for help.”

She addressed comments made at the last board meeting by some board members who stated that because she and other girls have not been physically harmed, there is no issue.

During the Tuesday, Oct. 28, PRJUSD board meeting, parents, students, and community members came to the meeting to express their concerns regarding transgender students using the girls’ locker rooms at PRHS.

Parents, students, and community members came to the Oct. 28 PRJUSD board meeting to voice concerns about transgender students using girls’ locker rooms at PRHS. A parent of a transgender athlete from another district accused Enney of targeting LGBTQIA students, while several female students, including freshman Chloe Breese, said their discomfort and safety concerns were being ignored.

Enney again requested the district bring forward a resolution for discussion on banning boys from private spaces, supporting the current federal interpretation of Title 9 (a federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any education program or activity that receives federal funding) on a future agenda.

However, fellow trustees pushed back, citing legal requirements, the board’s apolitical role, and the repetitive nature of his proposals. As trustees debated the difference between students being unsafe versus feeling unsafe, Enney’s motion failed again, with trustees Joel Peterson, Nathan Williams, Sondra Williams, and Jim Cogan voting no.

During that meeting, Cogan said, “I think there is a distinction there between whether or not someone is at risk or whether or not they feel safe … our LGBTQIA students have stated over and over and over again that they don’t feel safe.”

You can read Paso Robles Press’ full coverage on the meeting at pasoroblespress.com/news/education/prjusd-school-board/prjusd-votes-down-motion-to-discuss-transgender-locker-room-policy/

In response to the trustee’s comments at the October meeting, Wollerman said at Tuesday’s meeting, “Do I have to wait until something actually happens until my concerns are valid?”

She also addressed a claim that the district and others have said the complaints she and others filed were determined to be unfounded.

“If that is what the board truly believes, then I would like to know what kind of investigation was done,” Wollerman said. “Who was interviewed and what evidence was reviewed? Because none of the girls who submitted reports were contacted at all.”

Following public comment, Superintendent Jennifer Loftus addressed the concern that the gender neutral bathrooms do not lock.

“That is the first time I’ve heard that, so I have already mentioned that to Mr. Pawlowski, who will be following up on that tomorrow if he has not already followed up on it this evening,” Loftus said.

Regarding the student hanging out in the bathroom, Loftus says the concern was previously brought to her attention.

She explained, “From what I understand, there was a conversation with that individual at the school. We don’t hang out in restrooms; we go in, we do our business, and then we leave. So if that is continuing to be an issue or an area of concern, we definitely want our students to reach out and express that to their assistant principal or to a student supervisor on that campus because that’s not a good use of student time, and that’s not what those places are intended to be used for. So we do hear our students and we do absolutely want to make sure that everybody feels comfortable in a space that they are needing to be in. So please continue to use your voice and please do continue to share what your needs are.”

At the end of the meeting and during board member reports, Cogan addressed the board.

“One of the things that we have discussed over and over again is, of course, the division that we’ve had in description or understanding of California versus federal law, and we’ve had multiple votes on the different proposals regarding trans students," Cogan said. "We’ve had an opinion offered to us by our attorneys that we don’t need to keep beating our heads against the wall. We’ve had this vote over and over again, and so I am going to suggest that we honor that and not continue to have the same vote over and over because it is a waste of everyone’s time.”

Enney doubled down in his promise to continue bringing the request to discuss a resolution on banning biological boys from girls' private spaces.

“In my opinion, this is not a political issue. This is a right and wrong issue as I have mentioned before, obviously, this is a country and a board that has divided morals," Enney explained. "I think I side with the majority of the people in this town, this state, and the country on this. And I will not sit back and watch young girls be subjected to their position in life being lessened.”

The board meeting was then adjourned. The next PRJUSD board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 9, at 6 p.m.