SPOKANE, Wash. — The Central Valley School Board will hold a special meeting Monday night to gather public input as it finalizes a letter to the U.S. Department of Education regarding transgender athletes in school sports.
The draft civil rights complaint written by the board requests “urgent federal intervention due to open and egregious Title IX violations currently occurring within the state’s student athletics, as well as requisite school district policies mandated by the state which are in direct violation of Title IX.”
The complaint targets Washington state, State Superintendent Chris Reykdal, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA).
According to the board, these entities have disregarded directives from President Trump and created what it calls discriminatory and unsafe environments for girls and young women.
In February, President Trump signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports—a move that directly conflicts with Washington state law.
Central Valley, Mead, and other school districts have raised concerns about the legal conflict.
Superintendent Reykdal has repeatedly instructed schools to follow state law.
“We’ve told our school districts to lean into state law. State law is what you have to follow,” Reykdal said. “If something happens to you from the feds that is out of bounds, we have an attorney general’s office with the ability to defend and protect our state and our school districts.”
The WIAA recently considered amendments that would have barred transgender athletes from competing against girls, but those proposals failed during the organization’s spring meeting. Reykdal has warned that districts not following state regulations could face legal consequences.
A dozen people have submitted letters urging the school board to send its complaint to the federal Department of Education. The board will take public comments at Monday’s special meeting, which begins at 5 p.m. and will be streamed exclusively via Zoom. Click here for the link.
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