As debate over transgender student participation in sports and access to school facilities continues to play out nationally, the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District board agreed to formally revisit the topic as an informational item following public comment on Jan. 13.
During the meeting, students, parents, and community members spoke about transgender students using girls’ restrooms, locker rooms, and participating on girls’ athletic teams at Paso Robles High School. The topic was not listed on the agenda, but the board ultimately reached unanimous consensus to agendize a discussion in February.
“What I appreciate is the opportunity to grapple with what the law actually is, what our options are within the law, and then allow everyone time to think about what it might look like to come up with solutions that would be palatable to our community and supportive of our students—which I know is ultimately everyone’s goal,” Superintendent Jennifer Loftus said at the meeting’s conclusion. “Making the time and space for that is what we will do.”
The public comments came on the same day the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in cases from Idaho and West Virginia involving state bans on transgender girls competing in women’s sports. While the school board acknowledged that the eventual rulings could influence national policy, Loftus said that California’s existing legal protections for transgender students remain in effect.
“In California, the law is that you have to provide male, female, and gender-neutral restrooms,” Loftus said. “At the end of the day, every student gets to decide which one they want to use. They can choose the restroom associated with their gender at birth, the gender they identify as, or a gender-neutral restroom. They get to make that choice, and we must provide all of those settings.”
Public comment at the meeting skewed heavily toward opposing transgender inclusion, with speakers citing concerns about privacy, safety, and fairness in girls’ sports and gender-segregated spaces. Only one openly LGBTQ-plus student spoke at the meeting.
Aster Watson, president of Paso Robles High School’s Queer Student Union, told trustees that fear and harassment were a reality for him and other transgender and LGBTQ-plus students on campus.
“What about the fear I feel when homophobic students follow me to my next class, throw trash at me, and verbally harass me?” he said. “These are things that have actually happened to me, not assumptions of what might happen.”
Watson said some teachers offered support, but other staff members appeared to take little action, leaving him feeling unsafe at school.
“No problem will be solved by focusing on trans students, because we aren’t the problem,” Watson said. “The true issue is systemic and repetitive leniency from staff who, through inaction, affirm the belief that PRJUSD will not take disciplinary action against students who have committed acts of harassment and bullying.”
Since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, he has issued executive orders against trans people such as “keeping men out of women’s sports” and “defending women from gender ideology extremism and restoring biological truth to the federal government.”
This is not the first time transgender students have been the topic of discussion at school districts on the Central Coast during Trump’s second term. In May, parents of Lucia Mar Unified School District students spoke out against the presence of transgender students in sports and locker rooms.
The district didn’t take any action.
At the same time, PRJUSD was urged by public commenters to establish policies that would keep transgender student athletes from women’s locker rooms and bathrooms. In 2022, nondiscrimination and harassment policies from 2020 were reviewed with one public speaker calling the policies “special treatment” for gender nonconforming students.
During the PRJUSD meeting on Jan. 13, similar concerns were heard; students spoke about feeling uncomfortable sharing restrooms, locker rooms, or athletic teams with transgender peers.
“No student should feel pressured to stay silent when their privacy and dignity are being compromised,” student Addison Long told trustees, describing her experience as a girls tennis player.
Chloe Bree echoed that sentiment, saying that expressing discomfort should not be equated with hatred.
“Feeling this way does not make us hateful,” she said. “It makes us human.”
School board members said Watson’s allegations that bullying or harassment are not being adequately addressed deserved careful review, regardless of the broader political debate.
Loftus said staff are expected to investigate reports of bullying and harassment and encouraged students to report incidents through administrators or the district’s anonymous tip line.
Several board members said bringing the issue back as an informational item would allow the board and community to better understand what is happening on campuses and what options, if any, exist within state law.
“I think this has come to a tipping point,” board member Joel Peterson said. “We need to have the conversation.”
The informational item is expected to be scheduled for a board meeting in February. ∆
This article appears in Jan 22-29, 2026.