Schools cautious on Title IX regulation

By Bobby Horn Jr.
news@casscountynow.com

Local school districts are in a “wait-and-see” pattern following a “Dear Colleague” letter from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) which reminds districts that in order to be in compliance with Title IX (and be eligible for federal funds) they “must allow transgender students access to such facilities (restrooms and locker rooms) consistent with their gender identity.” The letter goes onto read, “a school may not require transgender students to use facilities inconsistent with their gender identity.”
The letter reminds districts that “as a condition of receiving Federal funds, a school agrees that it will not exclude, separate, deny benefits to, or otherwise treat differently on the basis of sex any person in its educational programs or activities unless expressly authorized to do so under Title IX or its implementing regulations.”
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded education programs and activities.
Sidney Harrist, superintendent of the Atlanta ISD, said that the Texas Education Agency (TEA) is currently in the process of writing guidelines for districts and that they are waiting for those guidelines before they set an official policy.
He said that if this new interpretation of Title IX stands he doesn’t think that the school district would have to make any changes in policy or practice. “Our attorney said that we are probably O.K. with what we have.” He added that he was not aware of any case where a student asked to use a restroom facility that was different from the gender assigned at their birth.
The ED says that the letter they sent out May 16 was not a new rule, but rather a clarification of a standing law. “This letter summarizes a school’s Title IX obligations regarding transgender students and explains how the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) evaluate a school’s compliance with these obligations.”
Mike Morath, Texas Education Commissioner, said the TEA is looking at various options before they send out specific guidelines to schools. Morath is known as a proponent of local control.
The Texas Association of School Boards, in a document entitled “Legal Issues Related to Transgender Students” wrote “no legal authority in Texas addresses whether students have a right to use sex-specific facilities exclusively with other students of their assigned sex.”
It went on to note that while a transgender student has a right to not be discriminated against based on gender identity, “other students may claim a right to privacy or raise a safety concern as to sharing a sex-specific facility with a student who has an assigned gender of the opposite sex.”
The ED’s letter has also prompted legal action.
On May 25 Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, along with 10 other states, filed a lawsuit against the Department of Education, Department of Justice, Department of Labor, Equal Opportunity Commission.
“Defendants have conspired to turn workplaces and educational settings across the country into laboratories for a massive social experiment, flouting the democratic process and running roughshod over commonsense policies protecting children and basic privacy rights,” Paxton said in the complaint.