Every New York City public school must install at least one single-stall restroom under a new policy announced by Chancellor Carmen Farina.
Farina said Tuesday that the restrooms will be available in all city schools by January 2018.
School officials say the single-stall bathrooms will support the privacy needs of transgender students and students with medical conditions and disabilities.
Farina says officials want to provide every student with "a safe, supportive and inclusive learning environment."
Benjamin Davis of the Gender and Family Project at the Ackerman Institute for the Family praised the initiative.
He said the single-stall option will let students meet their most basic needs "without threat of harassment, violence or intimidation."
Information on the bathroom initiative will be sent home to parents in students' backpacks.
