The student filed a federal complaint asking for unrestricted access to the locker rooms.
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A transgender* District 211 high school student and the student’s family filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Education, seeking unrestricted access to the locker room.
Cates, superintendent of Township High School District 211 in Palatine, Ill., said the district is sensitive to the challenges that transgender students face and has a support team to help them at school. That petition, as of Thursday morning, has collected almost 400 signatures.
But today, the district announced it’s going another way and providing the student with a private changing area, which it says ensures privacy for “all its students”.
If the district doesn’t come to an agreement with federal officials, it could lose a few of its federal funding, which amounted to about $6 million past year, Cates said. Transgender students who don’t want separate private accommodations are allowed to use restrooms in accordance with their gender identity, as there are private stalls available. “We believe this infringes on the privacy of all the students that we serve”.
“We fully support our transgender students”.
“Our position is the OCR’s unilateral mandate does not consider the best interests of all District 211 students and families”, says Cates-the man risking his district’s funding for an opportunity to be on the wrong side of history.
“At a few point, we have to balance the privacy rights of 12,000 students with other particular, individual needs of another group of students”, Cates said.
The Office of Civil Rights ruled transgender students should be granted such access. The statement notes that violating the OCR’s decision could lead to litigation, enforcement action, and the potential loss of federal education funds.
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The district has not identified the transgender student, who has spent several years living as a girl, or which of the district’s five high schools that she attends. A press release from the ACLU further described that “being separated from her classmates and teammates stigmatized the student and made her feel different”. He told the Tribune that the district “lists their self-identified gender and preferred name on school records” as well as “play on the sports team of the gender with which they identify and use the bathrooms of that gender”. “The student will continue to be allowed to change in private, as any students can if they desire”. “This is a matter we take very seriously and this policy would undo that”.
