The U.S. Department of Education released a statement on Thursday that the Denver Public Schools violated Title IX by opening all-gender bathrooms on campus and allowing students to use whichever bathrooms they felt most aligned with their identity.

The announcement by the Office for Civil Rights comes after an investigation was initiated earlier this year regarding the district’s bathroom policies at East High School after the district converted a bathroom from female to all-gender.

The district’s changes were initially done to a girls’ bathroom, with a nearby bathroom remaining as a boys’ bathroom. The district said at the time it had taken student feedback into account before opening the bathroom but maintained the district had “a high standard” for privacy and security when it came to the redesign, with the district calling the new 12-foot partitions “unmatched in the district.”

However, federal officials called the change illegal, saying in the proposed resolution that students were denied equal access in the school and subject to what the department deemed a “hostile environment.”

The district later opened another all-gender bathroom on the same floor in an effort to avoid creating a double standard. The district also said the new bathroom was not the only one available to students, with single-gender bathrooms and single-stall, all-gender bathrooms still available throughout the school.

In a proposed resolution, the Department of Education sent a letter to Denver Public Schools outlining the four actions the district must complete within 10 days to avoid enforcement action.

The plan would require the district to:

Stop using all-gender multi-stall restrooms and return them to sex-specific bathrooms.

Stop using policies that allow students to use whichever bathrooms they choose based on their gender identity.

Use “biology-based definitions” of the terms “male” and “female” when making policies and practices related to Title IX.

Send a memo to schools to remind schools that bathrooms and intimate facilities need to protect the privacy, dignity, and safety of students while being “comparably accessible” to both sexes.

The district must complete the above steps by October 29th, or the Education Department could take steps to enforce the policy through loss of federal funding.

Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said the district’s move not only violated Title IX but created a harmful atmosphere for students.

Trainor said in a statement that the policy “harms students by putting their safety, privacy, and dignity at risk.”

“These unlawful district policies put at risk the privacy, safety, and dignity of all students and reveal just how brazen Denver Public Schools is in its willingness to flout the law,” Trainor said. “By converting the girls’ restroom to an ‘all-gender’ restroom and by allowing students to use the high school’s intimate facilities on the basis of their gender identity rather than their biological sex, Denver Public Schools violated Title IX and its implementing regulations.”

The decision comes as President Donald Trump has signed an executive order banning transgender girls from using women’s sports teams, though current federal guidance states trans girls can play on girls’ teams.

GOP Congress members have also moved to place restrictions on transgender bathroom policies and sports team participation.

Denver Public Schools officials defended their decision, saying in a statement the move was done with input from students.

In its initial response to the Education Department, DPS said the changes to the bathroom policy were made with student feedback and were in place to address changes in need by the district’s students.

However, the district has yet to release a formal response to the proposed resolution from the Department of Education but previously said there were other bathrooms available on campus for students.

The case in Denver is just one example of several cases involving the federal government cracking down on how districts handle bathroom policies in relation to gender.

The Office of Civil Rights recently announced George Mason University in Virginia would face legal action over the school’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies for violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

Legal Debate Continues Over Transgender Student Bathroom Access

Denver Public Schools has a decision to make by October 29th if it wishes to avoid the federal government moving forward with actions to stop the district’s new bathroom policies.

The district must address the demands outlined by the federal government or they may risk facing enforcement actions from the Education Department, including losing federal funds.