Denver’s East High converts boys’ bathroom to all-gender restroom amid Trump administration investigation

Seven months after the Trump administration began analyzing Denver General Schools for converting a girls restroom at East High School into an all-gender one the school started classes this week with a new addition another all-gender restroom The new all-gender restroom was formerly a boys restroom DPS added it after functionaries with the U S Department of Tuition s Office for Civil Rights stated in January that converting a girls restroom into an all-gender restroom denied female students a restroom comparable with their male counterparts and violated the civil rights of Denver s female students DPS commented in a declaration that the new restroom was meant to address any disparity The addition of a second all-gender restroom on the same floor as the first restroom was suggested and paid for by the District to help address the notion of any unfairness or lack of parity across facilities the comment from DPS commented Students will continue to have access to gender-specific restrooms as well as existing single-stall gender-neutral bathrooms throughout the school the message disclosed The district noted it remains responsive to information requests from the Office for Civil Rights A spokesperson for the U S Department of Tuition declared the Office for Civil Rights assessment into DPS is ongoing The spokesperson did not answer a question about whether the district s conversion of a boys restroom into an all-gender restroom nullifies the alleged discrimination The Trump administration has taken aim at policies meant to protect transgender students On Wednesday the U S Department of Mentoring revealed that five northern Virginia school districts were violating the federal Title IX which prohibits sex-based discrimination by allowing students to use restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity All federal funding for those districts a total of more than million will now be distributed by reimbursement only meaning the districts will have to pay those expenses up front In a announcement U S Teaching Secretary Linda McMahon revealed the Virginia districts were being penalized for choosing to abide by woke gender ideology in place of federal law Nearly of Denver Inhabitants Schools budget last year or about million was made up of federal funding according to district budget documents The Trump administration began examining DPS shortly after the president s inauguration A letter from federal personnel to Superintendent Alex Marrero cited a January News story about East High converting a girls restroom into an all-gender restroom At the time DPS announced it was unprecedented for the Office for Civil Rights to initiate an probe based on a news story The district defended East High s all-gender restroom saying it was added at the request of students and has -foot-tall partitions to ensure privacy Kayleigh Baker an attorney and senior consultant with TNG Consulting and an advisory board member of the Association of Title IX Administrators disclosed countless school districts are caught between their own inclusive policies and interpretations of the law and the Trump administration s new interpretation of Title IX The courts may ultimately decide whose interpretation prevails Baker commented she doesn t believe that just having an all-gender restroom violates the law but she s not sure that converting a boys restroom along with a girls restroom would satisfy the Trump administration which has emphasized protecting access to single-sex restrooms Related Articles Trump administration to investigate DPS for turning girls restroom into an all-gender bathroom Family s attorney calls out Denver DA for not charging suspect in killing of East High novice Secure vestibule at Denver s East High criticized as illusion of safety has been put on hold Second dean shot at Denver s East High in sues DPS alleging district failed to keep students and staff safe My concern would be taking something away whether that s a girls restroom or a boys and a girls restroom she mentioned But Scott Skinner-Thompson an associate professor of law at the University of Colorado Boulder who focuses on LGBTQ issues revealed he thinks converting both boys and girls restrooms into all-gender restrooms weakens the Trump administration s discrimination claim which he believes was legally weak to begin with Title IX has never required identical facilities It s only ever required comparable facilities he disclosed Creating an all-gender restroom doesn t exclude anyone Chalkbeat National Editor Erica Meltzer contributed to this assessment This story was originally published by Chalkbeat a nonprofit news site covering educational change in constituents schools Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe at newsletters Get more Colorado news by signing up for The Denver Post s Mile High Roundup email newsletter