KENNEWICK, WA – An eastern Washington school board is pleading for urgent federal intervention to force the state to comply with the Trump administration’s policy on transgender athletes.
In a complaint filed this week with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, the Kennewick School Board said it’s in a bind: Either comply with state law and jeopardize federal funding, or follow President Donald Trump and risk punishment from the state.
“The Kennewick School Board is committed to ensuring the protection of biological female athletics, maintaining ‘all-female’ locker rooms separate from male locker rooms, and prioritizing the privacy rights of our students,” the complaint reads. “However, we find ourselves caught between conflicting directives that threaten not only our federal funding but also the rights and values of the families we serve.”
The board, with 19,000 students enrolled this school year, filed the complaint against the state, Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal, his office and the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association over “open and egregious Title IX violations.”
Last month, Trump signed an executive order seeking to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports by, in part, withholding federal funding for districts that “deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities.”
The board specifically cites the state-sanctioned participation of a transgender track athlete as a violation of that order. They also see conflicts between state law and Trump’s orders in policies on preferred pronouns, parental rights, and restroom access based on gender identity.
Enacted in 1972, Title IX prohibited sex-based discrimination in schools receiving federal funding. The civil rights law increased the participation of female student athletes, and also provided an avenue for girls and women to bring complaints of sex discrimination.
The school board approved the complaint in a 4-0 vote Wednesday, with board member Michael Connors abstaining. In the meeting, Connors told his colleagues, “we took a vow to follow the laws. Full stop.”
“The only way we do this is by finding a way to change the law,” he continued. “So if you guys think we can do that with this letter, then go nuts. I’m not taking any part of this deal because I have already stated we should not be going down this political road.”
In a statement, Reykdal said his office “has continued to advise Washington’s school districts to stay in compliance with state law, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity.”
He added Trump’s order “attempts to override the authority of states and local school districts by requiring educational institutions to agree to discriminate against trans female athletes in order to continue receiving federal funds.”
“An executive order is not law, and it does not override state law,” Reykdal continued. “OSPI will enforce our current laws as we are required to do in a constitutional democracy until Congress changes the law and/or federal courts invalidate Washington state’s laws.”
He said the state is prepared to take legal action if the Trump administration withholds funding.
The U.S. Department of Education didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Friday on the complaint.
This is the latest in the developing federal-state showdown over trans athletes participating in sports in line with their gender identity. Broadly, the Trump administration has tried in its first two months in office to limit how transgender people participate in American society.
This month, the Department of Education launched an investigation into the Tumwater School District, near Olympia, for letting a transgender athlete from another school compete in a girls’ high school basketball game. A district spokesperson had no update on the case Friday.
In a very similar letter to the one from Kennewick, the Mead School Board outside Spokane also asked for federal intervention on the issue, but stopped short of filing a formal complaint.
And the Moses Lake School Board also asked for federal help last week.
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, tasked with setting policy for school sports, is scheduled to vote next month on two proposals related to trans girls playing sports. One would bar trans girls from participating in girls’ sports. Another would create a separate division where trans athletes can compete.
A copy of the letter that the Kennewick School Board sent to the U.S. Education Department on March 26.
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