The U.S. Department of Education announced Tuesday that it is investigating Denver Public Schools for allowing a restroom in a high school to be used by all genders.
The Department said in a press release Wednesday that its Office of Civil Rights is investigating the district for what it claims are violations of Title IX protections when the district converted a girl’s restroom at East High School into a multi-stall all gender bathroom.
The bathroom opened when classes resumed earlier this month, according to NBC affiliate KUSA, and district officials said that the changes were made for students’ convenience.
“It was becoming a problem for kids that were trying to go to the bathroom during passing period,” Scott Pribble, Denver Public Schools director of external communication, told the station. “They were running out of time, being late to the next class because the one or two single stall bathrooms that they had to accommodate this just wasn’t enough for the need that was out there.”
Pribble said in a statement to USA TODAY Thursday that the restrooms were installed after a “student-led process” and that faculty at the school has a plan to monitor the bathroom.
“It is unprecedented for the Office for Civil Rights to admittedly initiate its own investigation, into a single bathroom, as a result of local media coverage rather than in response to a filed complaint requesting their involvement,” Pribble said.
The Department of Education cited one parent’s complaint at a work session for the project reported on by KUSA in a letter sent to the school district, but did not provide any other evidence of the community objecting to the change.
“Let me be clear: it is a new day in America, and under President Trump, OCR will not tolerate discrimination of any kind. I have directed OCR’s Denver regional office to investigate this matter fully,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in the press release.
Investigation amid Trump administration’s focus on rollback of transgender protections
The Department of Education’s action is the latest in the second Trump administration’s focus on current protections in place for transgender people that began with an executive order making it government policy to only recognize two genders.
The investigation in Denver was announced on the same day Trump issued an executive order stopping the federal government from aiding gender transitions for transgender youth.
The order applies to health care plans for federal employees and plans that are administered through Medicaid, Medicare and TRICARE, the health care program for members of the military and their families.
Trump also told the Department of Justice to prioritize investigations and take action against states that help to strip custody from parents who try to prevent their child’s transgender care.
