Sari Lesk

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

STEVENS POINT - Elliott Mutschlecner was afraid to use the men's bathroom as a high school senior.

Formerly known as Eleanor, he came out as a transgender male in February 2015, midway through his final year at Stevens Point Area Senior High. Having a closer relationship with the girls at school than the boys, he didn't know what he would encounter if he decided to use the bathroom consistent with his gender identity.

"I was pretty intimidated, actually," he said. "I was like, 'I'm just not going to mess with that.' ... I just was scared to go into the men's bathroom because I wasn't as close with the guys in the school and so I didn't know what would happen."

He decided to finish the school year using women's bathroom.

Mutschlecner's dilemma is one that has come to the forefront conversations about public schools in the past year. Advocates for transgender rights say people should be allowed to use the bathroom consistent with their gender identity and not be limited by what's on their birth certificate. Others argue it will allow sexual predators to more easily prey on victims. Wisconsin legislators proposed a bathroom bill similar to those passed in other states that would have limited students to use the bathroom and locker room for the sex stated on their birth certificate. That bill died in committee.

But last week, federal authorities issued a directive to all public schools across the nation stating they must allow students use the bathroom consistent with their gender identity. If the schools do not comply, they lose two sources of federal funds. Schools in the region that addressed the directive to USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin said they will work with students to make sure everyone's civil rights are protected.

RELATED: Schools must allow transgender bathrooms, Department of Education says

Local transgender advocates like Mutschlecner applauded the measure, while local schools said they're prepared to comply.

Stevens Point administrators said this week the district complies with the requirements of the directive and allows students to use the bathroom consistent with their gender identity. Greg Nyen, the district's director of student services, said the district has not yet been asked by any student to address locker room use.

"We anticipate that some time in the future we will need to address such a request," he said. "At this point in time, the district would probably look to make individual user facilities available to all students who request such privacy."

That approach would apply to all students, not just those who are transgender, he said. He said school district has unisex bathrooms that it allows students to use as requested. Building new bathroom facilities is an issue school boards across the country will have to address. Policies like this, Nyen said, come without funding, and districts may not be able to afford the construction.

"In an ideal world, we would have the resources necessary to construct facilities that respect the rights, requests and privacy for all of our students," he said. "When we balance the need for new bathroom construction with additional staff members, that's a very difficult balancing act."

RELATED: 3 UWSP dorms get all-gender bathrooms

Interim Superintendent Lee Bush said the district does not have a policy in place regarding bathroom access but will be discussing one at a committee meeting in June. He said the district will keep in mind its mission to prepare each student to successful as it develops the policy.

"The district's job is obviously the ensure the dignity and rights of all students," he said. "This is an opportunity for the district also to continue ensuring the rights of all and protecting the rights of all."

Wausau School District Superintendent Kathleen Williams wrote in a statement that the district will work with students to meet their needs. The only change from the district's previous practice, she wrote, is that the district will no longer seek medical or psychological confirmation before treating a student as transgender. Not complying, she wrote, would cost the district $5 million in federal funds.

The superintendent of Wisconsin Rapids School District declined to comment for this story. The Marshfield School District's administrator did not return repeated requests for comment.

Mike Mikalsen, chief of staff to Wisconsin state Sen. Stephen Nass, R-Whitewater, the author of the state's bathroom bill in the senate, said the bill will be reintroduced, and may this time expand to include all public restrooms, not just those in public schools. He said it's a violation of people's bodily privacy to allow people who are physically one sex to use the bathroom or locker of the opposite sex

He said it is unfair for schools to punish students who are uncomfortable sharing a bathroom or locker room with a transgender student.

"That is a politically correct punishment," Mikalsen said.

He said that the bill would not contradict the federal guidance because the Department of Education doesn't have legal power to force schools to comply.

Local transgender advocate BobbieJoy Amann, who has lived in the area for more than 20 years and runs a local transgender support group, said she thinks people will likely have questions about how this policy will look in schools, but that it requires some education about how compliance will be implemented.

"Bathrooms are the last of the sex-segregated spaces in our society," she said. "I can see why people are being protective. It's a bit of a cultural norm."

She said people who are concerned about safety and privacy or discomfort may just need some time to get comfortable with the practice.

For Mutschlecner, the directive was a welcome surprise. He said Attorney General Loretta Lynch's message to the transgender community, in which Lynch said history will be on their side, was powerful for him.

"Generally, the transgender community has been a marginalized community, it's not socially acceptable," he said. "The fact that we were directly addressed and seen as someone who deserves respect was really powerful."

Sari Lesk: 715-345-2257 or sari.lesk@gannettwisconsin.com; on Twitter @Sari_Lesk.