REXBURG — The Madison School District #321 issued the following statement in regards to a recent mandate from President Barack Obama.

Obama directed public schools must allow transgender students to use the restroom of the gender they identify with or face the loss of federal funding.

Madison School District administrators emailed parents the following statement Monday and posted the response on its Facebook page:

As many of you are aware, the Federal Department of Education recently issued a “Dear Colleague” letter directing school districts to permit students identifying their gender different than their birth certificate to utilize the bathroom of their choice.

In Madison 321, we have had students in the past who have identified as transgender. In order to assist them we have permitted these students to use faculty restrooms.

Faculty restrooms are designed for single occupancy and have doors that lock for privacy. Our transgender students were appreciative of this accommodation and as a district we have not encountered any difficulties utilizing this approach.

We feel providing faculty restrooms for transgender students is a reasonable accommodation and will continue to implement this practice with transgender students moving forward.

At the same time, we need to ensure that the bathroom safety and privacy rights of the vast majority of children who are not transgender is essential. Every child in our district has the right to use restrooms without worry or concern for their privacy.

Throughout the nation this issue will undoubtedly continue to be debated and litigated.

Regardless of the eventual legal outcome, The Board of Trustees of Madison 321 and I want to reassure you of our determined position on this matter and that the safety of all of our students in every setting is first and foremost our principal responsibility.