Denver Public Schools (DPS) was found by the U.S. Department of Education to be in violation of Title IX, the federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in schools.

In a letter sent Thursday, the federal department said that the district violated Title IX by designating all-gender bathrooms and by permitting students to use facilities according to their gender identity, as opposed to their biological sex.

The department launched an investigation into the district in January. The investigation centered on DPS East High School, where the district had converted a girls’ restroom to an all-gender facility.

According to federal officials, the move to allow a student restroom to be used based on gender identity conflicted with federal standards.

The district had previously said that the conversion came after a student-led process. They also added that the restroom redesigns included the addition of 12-foot partitions around toilets, which were added to create privacy and security for all students.

Federal officials, however, said that the district’s decision to convert the restroom facility to one for all genders was a violation of Title IX regulations. The acting assistant secretary for civil rights, Craig Trainor, said that the district “effectively denied students equal access to the bathroom facilities” and that it created what federal officials called a “hostile environment.”

The district had also added a second all-gender bathroom to the same floor to help address complaints of unfairness. District officials also pointed out that students could still use the other traditionally single-sex bathrooms as well as single-stall all-gender restrooms that were available throughout the school.

DOE Offers Resolution Plan

The Department of Education offered DPS a resolution letter, a document that proposed a four-part resolution to the issue and required action from the district within 10 days or else risk enforcement action.

The resolution letter offered by the department said that the district needed to:

• Immediately redesignate all all-gender multi-stall restrooms to sex-specific restrooms
• Immediately cease all policies and practices that allow students to access bathroom facilities based on gender identity rather than biological sex
• Immediately cease all policies and practices that do not use “biology-based definitions of ‘male’ and ‘female’” in school policies and practices related to Title IX

Issue a written memorandum to schools and buildings clarifying that intimate facilities such as bathrooms should be reserved for the exclusive use of students of the same biological sex in a manner that protects the privacy, dignity, and safety of students and is comparably accessible to both males and females

The Education Department will move forward with enforcement action if the district does not take steps to comply with the terms listed in the proposed resolution letter. One of the most direct consequences could be the loss of federal funding.

Trainor, the acting assistant secretary for civil rights, had also sent a statement saying that the district’s decision “endanger student safety, privacy, and dignity.”

“Denver Public Schools violated Title IX and its implementing regulations by converting a sex-segregated restroom designated for girls in East High School to an “all-gender” facility and by allowing students to use the high school’s intimate facilities on the basis of their gender identity rather than their biological sex,” Trainor said in the statement.

“Denver is free to endorse a self-defeating gender ideology, but it is not free to accept federal taxpayer funds and harm its students in violation of Title IX,” he continued. “The Trump Administration will work relentlessly to hold accountable school districts that harbor the ideological fanatics and policies that sully students’ educational experience with sex discrimination.”

The district has since pushed back against the DOE’s findings, and officials for the school district have been clear in their position. They have said that students have always had a number of bathroom options available to them at schools and that the decision to add all-gender facilities was made following feedback from students.

The district also added that the policy changes came after a student-led process. Officials also emphasized that the new all-gender bathrooms were created with privacy and safety of all students in mind.

DPS has not yet commented publicly on the letter sent by the federal department. Still, the district has previously said that students had access to a variety of bathroom options including single-stall bathrooms that are all-gender for students seeking more privacy.

Denver Case Part of Ongoing Fight Over Gender Identity Policies

The case in Denver is just the latest in an ongoing national debate over gender identity policies. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order blocking the participation of transgender girls in school sports that don’t match their biological sex.

GOP lawmakers in Congress have also pushed for legislation that would prevent transgender students from using school bathrooms and being on sports teams that align with their gender identity.

The Education Department has pursued numerous cases in schools and universities over the topic of gender identity in the past. In a separate case this week, officials announced that George Mason University had engaged in unlawful diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies and practices under Title VI.

What’s Next for Denver Public Schools

Denver Public Schools will now have to determine what to do about the letter from the U.S. Department of Education.

The district has 10 days to respond to the Education Department and make a decision about whether or not it will reverse its policies on all-gender bathrooms or risk enforcement action. That enforcement action could ultimately mean the loss of millions of dollars in federal funding.

The district has been clear in its defense of the process for adding the all-gender bathrooms. With the decision from the DOE, it has added fuel to an ongoing and tense fight between federal officials, state and local leaders, and students over gender identity policies in the nation’s schools.