Carroll ISD to Challenge Title IX Changes Protecting LGBTQ+ Students
KERA | By Juan Salinas II
Published May 17, 2024 at 5:00 AM CDT
The Carroll ISD Administration Building in Southlake, TX, seen on Oct. 27, 2021.
Carroll ISD plans to challenge the Biden administration’s recent changes to Title IX that extend protections to LGBTQ+ students.
The Carroll school board voted unanimously Wednesday night to “proceed with litigation against all necessary parties related to proposed changes to Title 9 and their effect on Carroll ISD,” the district said on social media.
The Biden administration last month released rules for Title IX – the law that prohibits discrimination based on sex in educational settings – clarifying that it also bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
In a resolution passed last week, Carroll ISD denounced the changes and expressed “deep concern over the potentially negative impact on our students and community.”
The school district is represented by the conservative legal group the Alliance Defending Freedom, which also helped to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Legal counsel Mathew Hoffman told KERA in a written statement the Biden administration’s “radical redefinition of sex in Title IX turns back the clock on women’s opportunities, erodes student privacy, and threatens women’s sports.
“The administration rejected reality and chose ideology over students’ best interests,” Hoffman added.
In its announcement for the final regulations, the U.S. Department of Education said they “promote educational equity and opportunity” for students.
“Our nation’s educational institutions should be places where we not only accept differences, but celebrate them,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told reporters last month.
Under the new rules schools will be responsible for investigating a larger range of discrimination complaints, but the rules don’t mention whether transgender student athletes should be able to play on sports teams corresponding to their gender identity.
Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has called on school districts and universities to ignore the changes to Title IX. More than a dozen states, including Texas, are suing the Biden administration over the new rules.