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The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced Wednesday it had launched 18 Title IX investigations into several school districts across the country, a day after the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the fight to protect women’s and girls sports.
School districts with high-profile transgender athlete controversies were among those under investigation. The targeted districts are in California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Washington.
“In the same week that the Supreme Court hears oral arguments on the future of Title IX, OCR is aggressively pursuing allegations of discrimination against women and girls by entities which reportedly allow males to compete in women’s sports,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said in a news release.
“Time and again, the Trump administration has made its position clear: Violations of women’s rights, dignity, and fairness are unacceptable.
“We will leave no stone unturned in these investigations to uphold women’s right to equal access in education programs, a fight that started over half a century ago and is far from finished.”
The schools under investigation included the following:
- Jurupa School District (California)
- Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District (California)
- Santa Monica College (California)
- Santa Rosa Junior College (California)
- Waterbury Public Schools (Connecticut)
- Hawaii State Department of Education (Hawaii)
- Regional School Unit 19 (Maine)
- Regional School Unit 57 (Maine)
- Foxborough Public Schools (Massachusetts)
- University of Nevada-Reno (Nevada)
- Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District (New York)
- New York City Department of Education (New York)
- Great Valley School District (Pennsylvania)
- Champlain Valley School District (Vermont)
- Cheney Public Schools (Washington)
- Sultan School District No. 311 (Washington)
- Tacoma Public Schools (Washington)
- Vancouver Public Schools (Washington)
Fox News Digital reached out to each school and district.
The districts are accused of maintaining “policies or practices that discriminate on the basis of sex by permitting students to participate in sports based on their ‘gender identity,’ not biological sex,” the Education Department said. “These policies jeopardize both the safety and the equal opportunities of women in educational programs and activities.”
Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District responded to a request for comment.
“The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District has been notified of a review by the U.S. Department of Education,” a school official said. “Our priority has always been to provide safe, respectful and inclusive learning environments for all students while meeting our obligations under state and federal law. The district’s policies were adopted in good faith and are aligned with applicable law, and we will fully cooperate with all requests related to this matter.”
Cheney Public Schools told Fox News Digital, “We are aware of the investigation that the Department of Education initiated today. At this time, we cannot comment on the substance of the investigation, but we intend to cooperate with the investigator throughout this process.”
Vancouver Public Schools told Fox News Digital, “We did receive notice earlier today alerting us that the Office for Civil Rights is initiating an investigation. We are reviewing the allegations, but are unable to provide further comment while the investigation is pending.”
INSIDE THE SCOTUS HEARING BOUND TO BE A TURNING POINT IN THE CULTURE WAR OVER TRANS ATHLETES IN WOMEN’S SPORTS
The OCR’s announcement came as the Supreme Court heard arguments in two landmark cases to protect women’s and girls sports.
The issue at hand is whether laws in Idaho and West Virginia that prohibit transgender athletes who identify as women from playing on teams that match their gender identity, discriminate based on sex.
In the case of Little v. Hecox, a biological man who sought to compete on the women’s track and cross-country teams at Boise State University contended that Idaho’s law, the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, violated the equal protection clause by excluding transgender women.
West Virginia v. B.P.J. centers on a 15-year-old transgender athlete who identifies as a girl and who argued the state’s ban violated both the Constitution and Title IX’s ban on sex discrimination in federally funded education programs.
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Lawyers for the states defending the bans maintain that separating sports based on biological sex preserves fairness and safety for female athletes and is consistent with Title IX’s definition of sex.
Fox News’ Ashley Oliver contributed to this report.
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