With the growing popularity of scholastic girls’ wrestling participation, schools across the state face challenges on how to configure shower and toilet facilities in what until recently had been an all-male sport.

In fact, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) announced just two days ago that it now has the required number of sponsoring schools to proceed with officially sanctioning the sport for girls. Once the PIAA makes it official, girls wrestling will even have a statewide championship process just as it does for other sports.

Among the 100 schools to have given their blessing to girls wrestling are 12 in District 11. They are: Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Executive Education Academy, Freedom, Lehighton, Liberty, Palisades, Parkland, Pine Grove, Pocono Mountain East, Pocono Mountain West and Tamaqua.

Although Palmerton is not yet one of these schools, it is looking down the road and expecting to become one. At the moment, just one Palmerton district girl wrestler is competing.

As part of its plans to construct shower facilities for both male and female athletes in the wrestling area, there is also a plan to add one unisex facility that has one sink, one toilet and one handicap-accessible shower.

News of the inclusion of this unisex facility has set off school board Vice President Earl Paules, who paid for a sign along Delaware Avenue in the borough that says: “No Unisex Bathrooms No Litter Boxes in Our Schools in Palmerton. Taxpayers have rights.”

The sign originally promoted residents’ attendance at a Feb. 7 board workshop meeting where the project was discussed in more detail. The sign has since been updated to encourage residents to go to the regular board meeting on Tuesday and question the estimated cost of the proposed project, $375,000.

Paules says the projected cost has escalated by about $30,000 because of the inclusion of the unisex facility. Paules’ objection about the cost is shared by some district taxpayers. Of course, the $375,000 estimate is just that, because the true cost will not be known until the project is put out for bids.

Palmerton’s weight and wrestling rooms are located in a building under the home bleachers of the district’s stadium, and for several months the board has been moving toward constructing separate boys’ and girls’ locker rooms with three private showers in each area. Changing this from the current arrangement of one communal facility with six shower heads is consistent with the growth of girls wrestling.

The proposed facility would also address privacy issues, because athletes are leaving the wrestling area to shower then returning to the wrestling rooms by crossing a public area.

According to the national accommodations code, which has been adopted by Pennsylvania, the unisex facility must be included in plans if more than one shower head is constructed. Paules said he was upset to find that students who are transitioning might use the unisex bathroom.

I don’t understand what the big deal is. Any student can use this proposed unisex facility. You lock the door for privacy just as you would at a unisex facility at a restaurant or any other public location.

Randy Galiotto, a partner in the architectural firm designing the proposed project, said the state regulation came to light after the project was originally pitched to the board.

The board authorized its solicitor Shawn Lochinger to verify the accuracy of Galiotto’s interpretation of the state regulations and report back so the board can make a decision on whether to go ahead with the project when it meets on Tuesday.

Paules said that he wonders whether something fishy is going on behind the scenes and suspects that it could be a door-opener to having unisex bathrooms in all district schools.

His sign’s reference to “litter boxes” promotes the wild speculation by extreme right wing conspiratorial believers that some school districts are attempting to accommodate students who identify as cats and use litter boxes to do their business. This outlandish allegation has been debunked multiple times as a hoax, yet here we have a local public official continuing to promote its dissemination.

Paules’ controversial comments and actions have sparked a backlash among more than 100 people who have signed an online petition characterizing his “publicity stunt” of misinformation that they say has made the Palmerton district the “laughing stock of the county because of his outlandish and unprofessional actions.”

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com