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A Bettendorf taxpayer and survivor of child abuse spoke out against the district’s handling of transgender policies.

“There are few things in this world I hate more than public speaking, yet here I am not because I want to be but because I have to be,” she said. “One of the things I hate more than public speaking is child abuse in any form. I will fight until the end to protect our kids. If my kids were young now, there’s no way that they would attend Bettendorf Public Schools.”

She shared that she was physically, psychologically and sexually abused as a child from when she was four years old for several years after.

“Now I stand before you to remind you that the weight that is being put upon our children is too heavy for them to bear,” she said. “Students do not have the brains that are fully developed enough, especially for the knowledge they are being fed. They are being fed things, put into their minds, that children should not have to be.”

She spoke of a recent incident at Bettendorf Middle School where a female student encountered a male student in the locker room.

“This was uncomfortable enough to talk to someone about it. This is not OK. This should be criminal,” she said. “If there are students who are confused about their gender or what they are, I’m sorry, however, their numbers are few and their right to feel comfortable does not outweigh the right of other students to feel comfortable and to be safe. Does there need to be a locker room and a bathroom for those who require special needs? If so, get it done.

“What’s it going to take for the board to protect 99 percent of the student population? Their blood is on your hands.”

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