Jeffco schools violated Title IX by allowing transgender students access to sports team and bathrooms, says Department of Education
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has found Jefferson County Public Schools violated Title IX by allowing transgender students to access sports teams, bathrooms, locker rooms and overnight accommodations based on gender identity rather than sex.
The action against Jefferson County is part of a broader, nationwide shift in how the Department of Education is approaching gender identity in schools. The OCR is currently conducting at least 18 similar Title IX investigations into school districts across the country.
The action also comes amid a flurry of other legal actions on the subject – from Colorado school districts challenging Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act, which allows students to participate on sports teams that align with their gender identity, to the Supreme Court’s consideration of whether transgender athletes participation on girls sports teams is sex discrimination against girls.
In a statement, the district said the federal government’s conclusion is erroneous, and the proposed resolution agreement would place Jeffco in direct conflict with Colorado law.
“Providing equal access to programs and services for all Jeffco students, including those who are transgender, does not violate Title IX,” it said. “The Department’s interpretation has no basis in the Title IX regulations and is not supported by any binding court decision. It conflicts with a recent U.S. District of Colorado decision which considered the same Jeffco policies.”
Jeffco investigation starts with overnight policies
An investigation initially focused on overnight school trips but was expanded, concluding that the district’s practices regarding bathrooms, locker rooms, and athletics discriminate against female students.
OCR concluded that Jeffco’s policies deny them equal access to educational programs and activities.
District athletic rosters showed that male students occupied 61 positions on girls’ sports teams, according to the OCR.
“The district’s decision to prioritize ‘gender identity’ over ensuring equal access for its female students is unconscionable,” said assistant secretary for civil rights Kimberly Richey. The administration plans to continue until "equal protection " is restored for female athletes.
The school district, which is Colorado’s second largest, serves 70,236 students across 145 schools.
Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance.
What the federal government wants
The OCR is giving the district 10 days to comply with a resolution agreement or face enforcement action.
The agreement requires Jeffco to rescind policies allowing male students access to female-only facilities and sports, adopt biological definition of male and female for all school activities, and publicly state that Title IX compliance based on sex overrides conflicting state laws or or regulations.
The district noted that prior federal administrations have taken the opposite view—that Title IX protects transgender students’ access to school programs and facilities.
It said Jeffco’s policies and practices align with Colorado law, federal guidance on Title IX and noted that since 2013, the Colorado Civil Rights Commission has interpreted state law to require school districts to accommodate students based on their gender identity.
It said Jeffco will continue to maintain its compliance with the law, and “will center decisions on providing exemplary, equitable educational opportunities for all students.”
Local and state legal conflicts
The federal finding arrives months after a court dismissed a lawsuit from parents over its policy allowing transgender students to share overnight accommodations according to their gender identity. The parents argued that it violated students’ constitutional rights to privacy and religious freedom.
A court dismissed the parents' claims last summer, ruling the families hadn’t shown they suffered direct harm from the policy and that parents rights to raising children don’t extend to controlling a public schools’ curriculum or policies.
The OCR’s ruling suggests federal investigators disagree with that local decision.
Related legal fights over transgender athletes
Meanwhile, some school districts are challenging Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act. Districts like Falcon 49 have argued they face legal risks between Colorado’s law to allow transgender students to participate on sports teams that align with their gender identity and federal civil-rights interpretations of Title IX.