Title IX Complaint Slams Wisconsin School District’s Dismissive Reaction to Transgender Locker Room Incident
A Complaint Filed Against Wisconsin School District for Alleged Failure to Address Incident
A Wisconsin-based law firm has taken action by filing a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education. The complaint requests an investigation into a Wisconsin school district’s alleged failure to address a concerning incident at a local high school. The incident involved a transgender-identifying male who showered naked in front of four female students.
According to The Federalist, the incident occurred on March 3 at Sun Prairie East High School (EHS). An 18-year-old male student, who identifies as a woman, allegedly showered unclothed in the girls’ school locker room while four female freshmen students were present.
The law firm, Wisconsin Institute of Law and Liberty (WILL), sent a letter to the Sun Prairie Area School District (SPASD) on April 19, requesting all communications related to the matter. However, the district’s special counsel informed WILL that fulfilling the request would cost over $11,000.
Failure to Address the Situation
In the filed complaint with the Education Department, WILL documents several incidents where school and district officials allegedly failed to address the situation appropriately, violating existing Title IX guidelines. The complaint specifically mentions EHS Associate Principal Heidi Walter, accusing her of not informing the school’s Title IX coordinator about the incident after it was reported to the student services center by one of the victims’ associates.
“A few days later when the four girls gave the student permission to provide their names [to] student services, the assistant principal told the student that the girls can instead approach her if they wanted,” the complaint reads. “She admitted during a meeting with parents later on that she should have ‘dug deeper’ at that time.”
WILL’s April 19 letter to SPASD details communications between one of the victims’ mothers and EHS Principal Renee Coleman. Coleman apologized for the incident but claimed that SPASD policies already addressed the situation. However, WILL asserts that no official district policy was identified, and no mention of Title IX rights was made.
An in-person meeting regarding the locker room incident didn’t take place until April 5, according to WILL’s complaint.
Furthermore, WILL claims that SPASD did not contact the girls to offer support or an opportunity to file a formal complaint of sexual harassment until after the law firm became involved. The district’s Title IX coordinator made contradictory statements, initially stating that SPASD does not condone students of one sex being undressed in the presence of students of another sex, but later claiming that transgender students would not be forced to use locker rooms corresponding to their sex at birth.
The coordinator also allegedly stated that SPASD had interviewed students and reached conclusions about the incident, despite failing to interview one of the victims. WILL argues that without interviewing their client’s daughter, the district could not determine if she was effectively denied equal access to educational programs or activities, as required by Title IX regulations.
WILL has urged the Education Department to swiftly investigate the incident and address any potential violations of Title IX.
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action, and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
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