Gender-inclusive policies spark federal investigation of Washington schools agency

The U.S. Department of Education has opened a broad investigation of the Washington state superintendent’s office over its gender-inclusive schools policies.

In a letter to the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction Wednesday, the department said the investigation centers on complaints from multiple Eastern Washington school districts that take issue with being required to adopt policies that allow transgender girls to compete in girls' sports and use girls' locker rooms.

This raises “substantial Title IX concerns,” the department said, and may violate other federal laws like the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA).

The announcement of the investigation also references a letter OSPI sent to the La Center School District earlier this year, ordering district officials to comply with the state’s antidiscrimination laws and gender-inclusive schools policy. The Trump administration had already launched an investigation of that matter, centered on a debate over preferred pronouns, two weeks ago.

RELATED: Trump administration to investigate Washington schools agency over gender inclusivity conflict

In a Wednesday news release, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the probe is the first of its kind, though California and Maine have faced similar investigations. Washington’s probe will be led by the new federal Title IX Special Investigations Team, a joint effort of the Department of Education and Department of Justice launched earlier this month.

“Washington State appears to use its position of authority to coerce its districts into hiding ‘gender identity’ information from students’ parents and to adopt policies to covertly smuggle gender ideology into the classroom, confusing students and letting boys into girls’ sports, bathrooms, and locker rooms,” McMahon said. “If true, these are clear violations of parental rights and female equality in athletics, which are protected by federal laws that will be enforced by the Trump Administration.”

State Superintendent Chris Reykdal blasted the investigation in a statement Wednesday, calling it “the latest target in the Administration’s dangerous war against individuals who are transgender or gender-expansive.”

“In this alarming attempt to infringe on the rights of our transgender and gender-expansive students, the Department is trying to co-opt laws enacted to protect students from discrimination and distort them into mandated discrimination,” Reykdal wrote. “The Department also attempts to twist FERPA and PPRA into tools designed to undermine the health, safety, and wellbeing of students.”

Reykdal has been one of the state’s loudest voices against the Trump administration’s efforts to limit trans students’ participation in sports and prohibit diversity, equity, and inclusion in schools. For the last several months, Reykdal has advised Washington schools to essentially ignore those executive orders, calling them discriminatory and “a federal overreach.”

RELATED: Washington schools chief says no to Trump, yes to DEI

On Wednesday, Reykdal reiterated that belief, arguing OSPI’s guidance to school districts aligns with state law, which has prohibited discrimination on the basis of gender identity since 2006. A year later, in 2007, Washington adopted policies allowing trans students to participate in school sports teams that are most consistent with their gender identity.

“Washington public schools have a responsibility to provide a safe and nondiscriminatory environment for all students, including transgender and gender-expansive students, so that all students can thrive,” Reykdal said.

He added that these laws and protections have been “successfully established and implemented for nearly two decades” — and, unless the legal situation changes, he plans to make no changes.

“My office will enforce our current laws as we are required to do until Congress changes the law and/or federal courts invalidate Washington state’s laws,” Reykdal said. “Unless, and until that happens, we will be following Washington state’s laws, not a president’s political leanings expressed through unlawful orders.”

But conflicting guidance on transgender athletics at the state and federal levels has put Washington schools in something of a legal limbo — and divided on which policy to follow.

RELATED: Washington schools grapple with conflicting policy on trans sports

Worried about losing essential federal funding, several districts have appealed to the feds for clearer guidance — and the Department of Education’s letter to OSPI on Wednesday references that. It names the Mead and Kennewick school boards, as well as the Moses Lake, Eastmont, and Warden Joint school districts.

In the Kennewick School Board’s federal complaint against state officials described the situation as putting them in a “serious dilemma.”

“Either the Kennewick School District complies with state mandates that put our federal funding in jeopardy; or it complies with Executive Orders (that ensure protection of our girls and young women) and risks retaliation from Washington State Officials,” the board wrote. “This conflict threatens our ability to create a safe and non-discriminatory environment for our 18,000 students and infringes on both federal and local authority.”

The federal education department said in the Wednesday letter that it’ll follow up with OSPI within a week to request more data.