Denver's school district maintains a stance of hesitation, undecided on the potential alteration of communal restrooms catering to all genders.
The Trump administration has launched an investigation into the Denver Public Schools (DPS) district over their implementation of all-gender bathrooms, as part of a broader probe into transgender policies in schools across the country.
The investigation was initiated by the Office for Civil Rights under the Trump administration, following the conversion of a girl's restroom at East High School into an all-gender restroom in January. The school district also added a second all-gender restroom on the same floor to address concerns of unfairness. The all-gender bathrooms at East High School feature 12-foot tall partitions for privacy and security.
However, the investigations by the Trump administration do not provide any specific statutes or legal cases to back up their findings. Similarly, the Education Department, in announcing that multi-stall, all-gender bathrooms are unlawful, also does not cite any supporting statutes or legal cases.
The school district claims that no onsite inspection or interviews were conducted as part of the probe. They also state that their attempts to discuss remedies were ignored. The Denver school officials are challenging a US Education Department finding that their all-gender bathrooms violate Title IX protections against sex-based discrimination.
The Education Department has offered the school district a chance to voluntarily make changes, including converting all-gender bathrooms back to single-sex, and risk unspecified enforcement action if not done within 10 days. The specific enforcement action remains unspecified, but the department has suggested that federal funding could be cut if the changes are not made.
DPS, which receives approximately $10 million in federal funds annually, represents less than 1% of its $1.5 billion budget. The district has not decided whether to convert the two all-gender bathrooms that sparked the probe back into boys' and girls' bathrooms.
Roughly half of these investigations focus at least in part on who gets to use bathrooms in some K-12 school districts in Virginia, Kansas, Washington state, and Colorado. The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit news organization, compiled the data regarding the Trump administration's investigations.
It is important to note that the Trump administration's stance on transgender issues has been a contentious topic. The administration has faced criticism for its policies, which many argue are discriminatory towards the LGBTQ+ community. However, the administration maintains that its actions are necessary to uphold the law and protect the rights of all students.
DPS, on the other hand, has vowed to support LGBTQ+ students, families, and their supporters. The district's decision on whether to comply with the Education Department's demands will likely be a significant test of the administration's authority and the district's commitment to its students.
The investigation into DPS's all-gender bathrooms is ongoing, and the outcome remains to be seen. The district's response will undoubtedly have implications not only for DPS but also for other school districts facing similar investigations.
