UPDATE: District 211 Transgender Case Making National HeadlinesThe U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights ruled the student should have full access to girls' locker room.
It’s not every day that Palatine gets a mention on the front page of the New York Times.
But, Tuesday was one of those days. The headline in the bottom right corner of the newspaper read: “U.S. Says Transgender Students has Rights in the Locker Room.”
The story focuses on a Monday ruling by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, which determined School District 211 was breaking the law by not allowing a transgender student full access to the girls’ locker room. The decision, education officials said, was the first of its kind regarding the rights of transgender students, the New York Times reports.
The student, who identifies as a girl but was born a male, plays on a girls sports team for District 211, according to the New York Times. The full article can be read on the New York Times website.
The national attention comes after federal authorities concluded its two-year investigation Monday and determined the school district was violating Title IX by not allowing the student full access to the locker room, according to the article.
District 211 superintendent Dan Cates said three weeks ago the student would not be allowed open access to the locker room -- even if it was required by federal law. The student and the student’s family filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights seeking unrestricted access to the locker room at the student’s school. Cates said the school district is protecting the privacy of all of its students by banning full access.
The student in question has identified as a girl for years and school officials agreed last week to put up privacy curtains in the girls locker room and the student said she would use the curtains or a restroom stall if she was allowed into the locker room, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Still, federal authorities said the school district’s efforts were not enough since the district was requiring the student to use the private area without giving her a say in the matter, the newspaper reports.
The school district now has been given 30 days to allow the student full access to the locker room, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
The school district could face loss of federal funding if it does not comply. The school district received $6 million in federal funds last year, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
In a statement Monday, the district withheld its position: “We do not agree with their decision and remain strong in our belief that the District’s course of action, including private changing stations in our locker rooms, appropriately serves the dignity and privacy of all students in our educational environment.”
“The students in our schools are teenagers, not adults, and one’s gender is not the same as one’s anatomy. Boys and girls are in separate locker rooms – where there are open changing areas and open shower facilities – for a reason. The District is encouraged that OCR acknowledges that the District must respect the legal rights of all students, including privacy rights,” Cates said in the statement.
