Voters in the Bartholomew Consolidated School district will have three races on their ballot for this election.

In the District 3 race, incumbent Polly Verbanic is running against James Persinger. In District 5, board member Pat Bryant is running against Tim Woods and in District 7 former board president Jeff Caldwell is running against Dennis White.

We asked the candidates about the recent uproar over adding gender identity to the district’s protected classes:

• A conflict arose earlier this year over an updated school policy on sexual identity and gender identity. Most of the uproar focused on community concerns about boys and girls sharing bathrooms or showers with those of opposite sexes. Do you think this is a legitimate concern and how is it being handled or should it be handled in the school setting?

District 3

Verbanic said that confidentiality prevented school officials from giving many details of how the policy is implemented.

Persinger said that the situation was handled poorly by school officials.

District 5

Bryant said the policy is flexible enough to handle things on a case-by-case basis:

Woods said some families are pulling their children out of school over the issue:

District 7

Caldwell said the policy is in place to prevent discrimination and it is being handled well by the school district officials:

White said the issue has come up with everyone he has talked to about the school board race: