Maine schools are dealing with confusion over the lawsuit

August – Several central Maine schools have been named in a federal lawsuit filed by a political organization that seeks to limit enforcement of new Title IX guidelines protecting against discrimination based on gender identity.

The new guidelines now face a federal injunction filed by a Kansas-based political organization Moms for Liberty, which says the new guidelines don’t give schools clarity on how to determine gender identity and because “transgender students may use the bathroom of the gender to which they are closely related,” it could leave girls who are not transgender , they will feel uncomfortable in the school setting.

While Maine’s education commissioner acknowledges that the federal lawsuit has created confusion over the legality of the guidelines, she said local officials at the affected schools can keep the new protections in the Title IX updates because they are already guaranteed under the act Maine Human Rights and most school boards have adopted policies.

“It is not illegal for a school to implement new Title IX regulations, even if it serves Moms for Liberty children,” Pender Makin, commissioner of the Maine Department of Education, said in an email. “It is illegal for the federal government to enforce these policies in these specific schools.”

Title IX provides an educational environment free from discrimination based on sex or race. Under new guidelines introduced Aug. 1, they include protections for transgender or gender nonconforming students in any education program that receives federal funding.

The federal order names 30 Maine schools and 18 school districts, including Cony Middle and High School in Augusta, all three Winthrop Public Schools and Waterville High School.

School officials say that because the order is federal, only the federal government has the authority to enforce it.

Makin said the order unfortunately caused “confusion and distraction,” and the action “is being used by some to threaten local schools with lawsuits if they try to pass new Title IX regulations.”

The Maine Human Rights Act already provides a similar, nondiscriminatory promise to students and adults, and has also faced challenges in school districts such as the Gardiner-based Maine School District 11. Some parents questioned MSAD 11’s bathroom policy for transgender students during public comment sessions at school board meetings that became heated at times.

The federal government introduced new Title IX guidelines on August 1 that include broader definitions of gender identity, which Moms for Liberty disagrees with – they say the Department of Education has not explained how a school determines a student’s sexual identity and that it is contrary to law. The lawsuit cites an example of a transgender girl using a girls’ bathroom and the possibility of the student causing discomfort in a private area.

Tiffany Justice, co-founder of Moms for Liberty, said in a statement to the Kennebec Journal that the organization is proud of the process it has initiated by “stopping the Biden administration’s overreach” and “we will continue to monitor future rulings to determine what future decisions will move forward in the litigation.” “

The group filed its first lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas in May, and in July the court ruled in Moms for Liberty’s favor and issued an injunction for new Title IX guidelines in the plaintiff states of Kansas, Alaska, Wyoming and Utah. The July ruling also allowed the group to add any school where a “mom” has a student – or future student – which triggered an injunction in 26 states, including Maine.

“The order has only one legal meaning: it prevents the federal government from enforcing the new Title IX regulations in schools attended by the children of Moms for Liberty members. The order does not apply to state governments or local schools, so there is no legal barrier preventing a local school from implementing the updated Title IX regulations,” Makin said.

The decision is made preliminary nature to the appeals court ruled otherwise.

Asked how the order would impact Maine, Kim Hermann, executive director of the Southeastern Legal Foundation, said in a statement: “We “We are monitoring state actions to circumvent the federal court order and are also considering additional state actions.”

The order names Cony middle and high schools, but does not name the rest of Augusta Public Schools. Also listed are all three Winthrop Public Schools, Readfield Elementary School and Waterville High School, among others in central Maine.

Augusta Assistant Superintendent Christina Wotton explained to the Augusta Board of Education at a recent policy committee meeting that the order, which only applies to Cony Middle and High School, could cause confusion regarding new or active Title IX cases.

“Cony High School and Middle School are subject-oriented,” Assistant Superintendent Christina Wotton explained at an Augusta school board policy meeting earlier this month. “This is from Moms of Liberty. They filed an injunction, and until the court hears it, middle and high schools are advised to follow the 2020 rules, rules and regulations, while other schools continue to make changes. It will be difficult for both me and the board.”

Although Winthrop Public Schools is named in the order, the school board this month began adopting new Title IX regulations, which it can do under Maine law as long as they do not enforce the 2024 version of the law.

In addition to greater protections for gender identity, students are now protected based on race, disability, religion and even pregnancy status. There is also a more extensive reporting, grieving and resolution process.

Winthrop School Board member Ivy Corliss brought up the order at the Sept. 18 board meeting and mentioned how the policy update works in conjunction with the order. School District Title IX Officer, Alexis Dascoulias, did not know whether this was a School Board conversation at a public meeting.

Makin said that a the superintendent “could have chosen not to implement the updated Title IX regulations and related protocols” at the schools named in the lawsuit, but could have continued to maintain the same updated protections.”in accordance with the policies and protocols contained in local school board policy or Maine state statute.”

Still, Makin said the end result of the order is confusion and setting up neighborhoods as “lightning rods for divisive, emotionally charged rhetoric.”

Copy link to story