Every public school campus in the Acalanes Union High School District, Mount Diablo Unified School District, and Walnut Creek School District was required to have at least one all-gender restroom available to students by Tuesday, July 1, under California's SB 760.
The law, authored by former state Sen. Josh Newman and co-sponsored by former state Sen. Steve Glazer (D-Orinda), was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 23, 2023. The compliance deadline has passed. None of the three local districts have made public announcements about their implementation approach.
What the law requires
Under the chaptered bill text, campuses serving grades 1 through 12 that already have more than one male restroom and more than one female restroom must provide at least one all-gender option. Schools with only one restroom per sex are exempt. The all-gender restroom must have signage identifying it as open to all genders, remain unlocked and accessible during school hours, and be stocked with menstrual products for schools serving grades 3 and above.
Use is voluntary. Students cannot be required to use the all-gender restroom, and sex-separated restrooms will remain on campus.
What it doesn't require
The law does not mandate removal of urinals or additional privacy measures in stalls. Schools can satisfy the requirement by converting an existing single-stall restroom, such as a nurse's office bathroom, rather than building new facilities.
"How each school fulfills this new requirement is entirely up to the local school board," Greg Burt, vice president of the California Family Council, told the Contra Costa Herald on Wednesday, July 23. "Parents need to find out right now what their district is planning."
No compliance tracking
The California Department of Education does not track statewide compliance data, meaning there is no official count of how many schools have met the deadline. Each district must designate a staff member as a point of contact for implementation and post that person's information outside at least one all-gender restroom, per the bill text.
Four Contra Costa County legislators voted for SB 760: state Sen. Tim Grayson and Assemblymembers Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, Buffy Wicks, and Lori Wilson.
Jorge Reyes Salinas, communications director for Equality California, which sponsored the bill, told KQED on July 1 that California "has chosen this different approach, which is expanding options rather than restricting them."
Parents who want to influence how their school implements the law should contact their district's board members directly. The Acalanes Union, Mount Diablo Unified, and Walnut Creek school district boards each post meeting schedules on their websites.
