The federal announced June 18 that it is investigating three Michigan school districts in an effort to determine whether the districts violated Title IX by allowing transgender students to participate in sports or use locker rooms that correspond to their gender identity rather than the gender they were assigned at birth.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is focusing on Ann Arbor Public Schools, Monroe Public Schools and the Chippewa Valley School District, which serves students in Clinton Township and Macomb Township.
Representatives from Ann Arbor and Monroe school districts could not be reached for comment.
Chippewa Valley issued a statement that said it had been notified of the investigation by local media and has not yet received a copy of the complaint from the Department of Education.
“As a matter of practice, the district cooperates fully with any review conducted by the Office for Civil Rights,” the statement said. “Chippewa Valley Schools remains committed to providing a safe, supportive, and respectful learning environment for all students and to complying with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations.
The government, in a press release, said it had received a complaint that Ann Arbor schools allowed a transgender girl to complete on one of its volleyball teams for girls and also allowed the girl to use female-only locker rooms.
In Monroe, the government said the school district allegedly required members of the girls volleyball team to play against another team with a transgender girl on its roster and allegedly forced team members to share a locker room. Late last year, the father of a Monroe volleyball player filed a complaint with the U.S Education Department, making the same charges.
Meanwhile, the government says Chippewa Valley allegedly allowed a transgender male student to use the boys locker room.
“The convoluted practice of allowing students to participate on sex-segregated athletic teams and make use of locker rooms based on ‘gender identity’ is not only known to be unsafe for students, but is a direct violation of federal law,” said Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey.
This is not the first time the federal government has targeted Michigan school districts. Earlier this year, it opened an investigation into whether the Detroit Public Schools Community District, the Lansing School District and the Godfrey-Lee Public Schools, located in the Grand Rapids suburb of Wyoming, has included “sexual orientation or gender ideology content” in any classroom instruction and if parents were notified of their rights to opt their children out of such instruction.
Contact Georgea Kovanis: gkovanis@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Feds investigate 3 Michigan schools over trans athletes in sports
Reporting by Georgea Kovanis, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Georgea Kovanis, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
