Federal complaint launched against Wisconsin school district for failing to implement new Title IX rules

Two Wisconsin LGBTQ+ advocacy groups filed a federal complaint Monday against the Kettle Moraine School District for allegedly fostering a hostile environment by violating new Title IX regulations.

Fair Wisconsin and GSAFE said this will be the first of many complaints against Wisconsin school districts they alleged are not protecting trans and nonbinary children. The complaint against Kettle Moraine was filed with the United States Department of Education Office of Civil Rights.

“Our children are watching, and when elected school board members weaponize the identity of some of our most vulnerable children, we must take action to stop them,” said Abigail Swetz, executive director of Fair Wisconsin. “We must show the children of Wisconsin — our trans and nonbinary kids and all of their peers — that we are ready to protect their rights and ensure their safety.”

Kettle Moraine spokesperson Sara Otto said the district was informed a complaint had been filed but they had not received any additional information or been contacted by the Office of Civil Rights.

Otto said the district “supports all students and families and does not tolerate bullying.” She added the final rule of Title IX has not been reviewed because of an ongoing federal lawsuit.

The Kettle Moraine complaint coincides with federal complaints filed Monday against school districts in Arizona and Pennsylvania for similar Title IX violations.

Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in all education programs that receive funding from the federal government. 

New regulations passed in April by the Department of Education include gender identity and sexual presentation in the definition of sex-based discrimination.

That provision has been a sticking point for many school boards and parents, with dozens of parents in some districts attending meetings voicing support and outrage for the inclusion of gender identity in Title IX.

Kettle Moraine, Merton, Elmbrook, Menomonee Falls and the Winneconne school districts have either not adopted new Title IX regulations or excluded gender identity language.

The new Title IX rules have been subject to a number of lawsuits, brought forth by 26 Republican-led states and three conservative activist groups including Moms for Liberty. 

On Aug. 16, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the Biden administration’s request to allow most of its Title IX rules to take effect in places where courts have issued preliminary injunctions temporarily blocking the rule.

While Wisconsin is not involved in the lawsuit, schools affiliated with Moms for Liberty are affected.

That means Wisconsin school districts could make changes to Title IX that would apply to some, but not all, of their schools.

In July, the Kettle Moraine School District discussed not taking action on new Title IX regulations until legal challenges are complete.

But several board members said they “stand by girls.”

“Trans women are not women,” said Amy Richards, a member of the board. “As a woman, I am offended by the idea that they know what it is to be a woman if they are not a woman. I will protect our girls and boys. That is what the community wants.”

The complaint filed by Fair Wisconsin and GSAFE on Monday states Kettle Moraine should not be exempt from new Title IX regulations. 

As of Aug. 28, only four of the 11 schools in the Kettle Moraine School District were included in the list of schools affiliated with the groups that Title IX regulations would not apply to, according to the complaint. 

“Additionally, the District Court’s order does not extend to school districts in their entirety, which are legally separate entities that, nonetheless, receive federal financial assistance,” the complaint states. 

Fair Wisconsin and GSAFE believe the Kettle Moraine School Board’s inaction in July and Aug. 13, two weeks after new Title IX regulations were supposed to be implemented nationwide, shows a clear signal of noncompliance.

Tyrone Creech, Jr., executive director of GSAFE, said access to LGBTQ+-inclusive curriculum and affirming spaces like gender and sexuality alliances can create a sense of safety and belonging. 

“When we know that, we must be those supportive adults and create that welcoming space for our kids to belong,” Creech said. “It is a moral imperative, and under Title IX, it is also a legal obligation.”

According to an analysis of the LGBTQ+ data in the Youth Risk Behavior Survey administered in Wisconsin in 2021, only 66 percent of Wisconsin’s trans youth reported feeling safe in school, while 18 percent reported skipping school in the past year due to feeling unsafe. 

Trans youth are more than three times as likely as their peers to have been bullied at school, and according to the 2021 GLSEN National School Climate Survey, the majority of LGBTQ+ youth in Wisconsin who were victimized never reported the incident to school staff.