‘It’s the right stance.’ Southlake Carroll board denounces Biden’s Title IX changes
Southlake Carroll school board trustees voted unanimously Monday night to adopt a resolution denouncing the Biden Administration’s changes to Title IX, which call for expanding protections to include LGBTQ+ students.
The board’s decision comes on the heels of a letter from Gov. Greg Abbott ordering the Texas Education Agency to ignore the changes, which are supposed to take effect in August. Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the Biden Administration to block the rules from taking effect.
Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare issued a statement on May 3 calling on superintendents and education leaders to denounce and ignore the Title IX changes, according to information from the Carroll school district.
Texas and other Republican-led states are criticizing the expanded rules saying the Biden Administration misinterpreted the original intent of Title IX.
Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in education programs that receive federal funding, and the new rules expand the laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identification.
Under the new rules, schools will be responsible for investigating a wider range of discrimination complaints.
According to the Texas Tribune, the Biden Administration revised the Title IX rules to “redefine” sex-based discrimination to prevent misconduct based on sex stereotypes, pregnancy, sexual orientation and gender identity.
But the new rules did not address whether transgender students should be able to play on sports teams corresponding to their gender identity.
The resolution says in part that Carroll trustees are “expressing deep concern over the potentially negative impact on our students and community and that the CISD Board of Trustees urges the Biden Administration to consider these changes and engage in meaningful dialogue with stakeholders including educators, students and parents.
“The CISD reaffirms its commitment to maintaining a safe learning environment for all students free from harassment, discrimination and violence.”
Board president Cameron Bryan said the expanded rules are dangerous and that they have no place in the Carroll school district.
“This board has a duty to develop and pass policies to help make our campuses safe and secure while protecting our students, staff and parents,” Bryan said. “We take that duty seriously. I would like to remind everyone that we have policies in place that pertain to bathroom, locker room and pronoun use, and those policies will remain in effect.”
The Carroll school board adopted policies that prohibit students from using bathrooms that don’t correspond to their biological sex and students must use identifying pronouns for the gender they were assigned at birth.
Bryan went on to say that although the expanded Title IX rules don’t include sports teams, that could change in the future.
He said the district and the board will fight to keep boys from entering girls bathrooms and locker rooms.
“The Biden Administration says this doesn’t apply to athletic activities. Oh yeah, right. It doesn’t, but when the Biden Administration is possibly elected in November, guess what’s next. Boys will get to play in girls sports. That’s not going to happen here …
“We are taking a stance, and we think it’s the right stance. And we’re in the majority not only in this community but in this country,” he said.
This week, the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights notified Carroll that the district violated students’ civil rights. The district has 90 days to negotiate with the government to reach a resolution or face penalties, which could include loss of federal funding.
The Department of Education conducted a three-year investigation into complaints of harassment and bullying because of race, sexual orientation and gender. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund represented the students.
