MEXICO — An co-ed athletic prep area built alongside one of the gymnasiums at the new pre-K to grade 8 Mountain Valley Community School is causing renewed concern among a couple state lawmakers about student privacy.

Organizers of a 70-minute information session Wednesday say the athletic prep area design strayed from what was originally planned and lacks a privacy wall.

“The most important thing is the safety, the security of our children and the physical and mental well-being of our children and the outcome of this is that we want a permanent wall in that locker room,” said Rep. Rachel Henderson, a Rumford Republican, who moderated the session along with Rep. Tammy Schmersal-Burgess, R-Mexico.

Other state representatives attending were Sen. Joe Martin, R-Rumford, Rep. Mike Lance, R-Paris, and Rep. Michael Sobolewski, R-Phillips.

“Having these state leaders here brings real gravity to the situation and hopefully it will show you are supported and that this is an issue worth fighting for,” Henderson said.

Grades 6 to 8 begin attending the school Tuesday, Jan. 20, with pre-K to grade 5 starting Monday, Jan. 26.

Jen LeDuc, vice chair of the Region School Unit 10 board of directors, said that the Department of Education said it would put the wall in at no cost to the district, but the school board will have to approve it.

Asked if the MDOE sent that statement in writing, LeDuc said it wasn’t as of Wednesday night.

On Friday evening, WMTW reported that RSU 10 directed its general contractor to add the privacy wall to split the space into two separate spaces. That information could not be independently verified by the Rumford Falls Times before the state education department closed for the weekend.

In an interview in November, Superintendent Deb Alden acknowledged the area was not designed the way former “locker rooms” were. Every shower and changing area toilet is totally enclosed for privacy and single use, she said, and two office areas are placed for supervision.

In the school’s co-ed bathrooms, there are full private stalls that stretch from the floor to the ceiling. Additionally, Alden said each classroom for kindergarten through grade 3 will have a single-user bathroom in each room. The other bathrooms in the school, including the five on each middle school floor, are single use. The bathrooms near the gym for public use during events and games are all single use with the exception of the sinks. This is similar to many newly built restaurants and venues, she said.

One community member pointed out that in 2022 the public voted for the school based on the specs of a locker room that included a wall, but that’s not what happened.

“That’s a question we’ve asked and are asking,” Henderson said, referring to state legislators. “Where did the change orders come in and who approved them? We’ve narrowed it down to a space in time.

“Rep. Schmersal-Burgess has put in three freedom of access requests to the Department of Education, to the school board, and to the designer,” Henderson said. “I’ve put in a request as well to the subcommittee that has the advisory jurisdiction over the building.”

Henderson said she is looking into when the change order was put in, who approved it and whether or not it was a legal change.

“We deserve transparency,” she said. “We want answers for what’s going on. And we demand that our children are protected.”

One person, who said they were a former middle school substitute teacher, referred to a written statement by RSU 10 that said the bathrooms would be monitored. When she subbed, she said nobody had the time to do that, and she didn’t even have the time to go to the restroom.

“They don’t have enough subs now or enough teachers,” the person said. “Where are they going to find these extra people to monitor (the bathrooms) because the kids don’t go to the bathroom always in between classes or during their lunch break.”

Henderson said, “The more we talk about this, the more evident it is that there is just so many holes in the rationality and the argument … we can actually apply some pressure to the district itself, a district that I think doesn’t have an intention to harm children, but they’re creating opportunities for children to be harmed.”

In a Dec. 14 statement on its Facebook page, RSU 10 said that off the full size gymnasium is an “Athletic Prep Area,” not a co-ed locker room as it has been called. In this area there are two offices for physical education teachers or coaches to use, and 22 floor-to-ceiling doors that any person can go in for privacy — all can be used for changing rooms. Some have toilets and two have showers, all for single use.

LeDuc said people can approach the board with concerns at its next meeting, Monday, Jan. 12, at 6:30 p.m. at Mountain Valley High School, when she will be filling in as board chair.

“There are a couple of ways for you to approach the school board,” LeDuc said. “You can send emails all day and all of our email addresses are on the RSU page on the board of directors link. Make informed conversation with your board members. ‘I have these concerns. I am a parent or a grandparent.'”

“The current policy is that people are allowed to speak for two minutes. I can only take that conversation for 30 minutes,” she said. “That is board policy. It’s not a back and forth. That’s not the right time to say I want an answer. My recommendation is to put things on paper. What the most important point you want to get across and say it concisely.”

Sobolewski suggested to Henderson that a petition could be started to not accept the school without the wall.

Henderson said language for that petition is being worked on now “to ensure that it’s clear, it’s specific and that we’re collecting everything.”

“It might be our last option. The buck stops here,” Henderson said. “If (RSU 10 is) not willing to come together for a meeting, if you’re not willing to put in this wall before our children go back to school, we’re going to make sure we have a fully signed petition from these parents and community members that say we’re not taking responsibility for that school until that’s put in. That language is already in the works.”

A spokesperson for the DOE told WMTW in an email, “The Maine DOE’s role in state-funded school construction projects includes supporting the local school district and its architect during the design development process; providing building plan review, alongside the Maine State Board of Education; and offering insight into nationwide industry standards.”

The $92 million school on 60 Highland Ave. in Mexico will house an estimated 1,000 students. This new facility will replace Rumford Elementary, Meroby Elementary and the Mountain Valley Middle School.