Dive Brief:
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The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday warned California public school districts that they were "exposed to legal liability" after a transgender athlete won gold in a state high school track and field championship over the weekend.
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The win was shared with cisgender athletes who won first place alongside athlete AB Hernandez. The wins came after a rule change last week by the California Interscholastic Federation allowed more girls to compete in the championship to accommodate both transgender and cisgender students' achievements.
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The Justice Department, however, said the CIF's rules allowing transgender students to play on girls' teams are tantamount to "knowingly depriving female students of athletic opportunities and benefits on the basis of their sex." The agency's June 2 letter asks all California school districts to certify by June 9 that they are not following the policy.
Dive Insight:
The California Department of Education sent its own letter to district superintendents and charter school administrators Tuesday, acknowledging the Justice Department's correspondence and assuring districts that they and the state have already provided the standard certification required to receive federal funds.
"The DOJ assertions are not in themselves law, and the letter by itself cannot be an enforcement mechanism. The letter does not announce the passage of any new federal law," said Superintendent Tony Thurmond in the letter. "The DOJ letter references no law that would authorize the agency to require another 'certification' or one of this kind from LEAs."
Thurmond said the state education department would respond to the Justice Department on behalf of the districts that received the federal agency's letter.
The Justice Department letter, which went to public school districts that are part of CIF follows a string of actions by the U.S. Department of Education and Justice Department as they escalate their crackdown on including transgender students on women’s and girls' athletic teams.
Last Wednesday, the Justice Department sent letters to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, Jurupa Unified School District and the CIF that it was opening a Title IX investigation related to AB 1266, a decade-old state law allowing transgender student participation on sports teams.
California State Superintendent Tony Thurmond defended that California law, saying in a statement Tuesday that "sending a letter does not change the law."
"California state law protects all students’ access to participate in athletics in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity," said Thurmond. "We will continue to follow the law and ensure the safety of all of our athletes.”
In February, the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights launched a self-initiated Title IX investigation into CIF, warning it "must abide by federal law" and ensure "that female athletes in these states are treated with the dignity, respect, and equality that the Trump Administration demands."
"I would remind these organizations that history does not look kindly on entities and states that actively opposed the enforcement of federal civil rights laws that protect women and girls from discrimination and harassment," said Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights, in a Feb. 12 statement announcing the OCR investigation alongside an investigation of the Minnesota State High School League.
In April, U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi issued a warning that California could be next in a string of states being investigated and potentially cut from federal funding for allowing transgender student participation on girls’ sports teams.
The warning came during a press conference announcing a civil lawsuit against the Maine Department of Education, which was the first state to undergo a short, self-directed Title IX investigation from the Trump administration over transgender student policies.
That investigation, concluded in about a month, led to findings of Title IX violations and a lawsuit filed against the Maine Department of Education by the Justice Department. Some $864 million is on the line in that case, including retroactively pulling funding for past Title IX violations. The case is pending in federal district court in Maine.
