Parents in Devils Lake petition against adding single-user school restrooms

DEVILS LAKE, ND (Valley News Live) – A petition has been started to stop Prairie View Elementary from adding single-user bathrooms. The bathrooms, which would have communal sinks, would be added when the school builds its new fifth-grade wing.

It’s a petition started by parent Grace Sturtz that is sparking conversations. On the petition page she refers to her child with Crohn’s disease and to young girls going through their monthly cycles. She adds that no child should feel ashamed when it comes to emotional and physical problems.

An impression of what the new stalls could look like.(Devils Lake Public Schools)

Chief inspector Ned Clooten says that it would be safer with these new stalls.

“We have incidents of children using mobile phones to maybe take pictures or put cameras on top of them. So there are certainly examples of those communal toilets, and just the stalls that we’re trying to overcome and prevent with these types of bathrooms.

One parent on the petition page wrote: “This is outrageous and our children don’t need this rubbish at their school.”

Another said: “My child is going to this school soon and if this goes away he won’t go anymore.”

“We’re talking specifically about third through fifth grades. The national trend is to install single-user toilets because of the problems this prevents,” says Clooten.

The district says these stalls will ultimately be slightly more expensive than the average communal bathroom.

“You know that a wall costs a little more than a stable that doesn’t extend all the way to the bottom or to the ceiling?”

The school board has been working on this plan since March. Clotten says he only recently received some backlash. But there is no certain number of petition signatures that can make or break this plan.

“Calling a school board member first is probably the most important thing they can do. They will always reconsider every decision they have made, or reconsider someone else’s opinion when presented with different things. The school board has been active in discussions and I don’t think I can give you a specific number that says, ‘Okay, we’re definitely going this way, or we’re definitely going this way.’

Groundbreaking on the 5th grade wing is expected to break ground this spring with an opening scheduled for July 2026.