Investigation will include OSPI’s ruling on the La Center School District’s gender pronoun policy

Carleen Johnson
The Center Square Washington

The U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice have launched a formal investigation into the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction over concerns that the agency may be enforcing policies that violate federal law.

Those federal laws include Title IX, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment.

According to the federal government, several Washington school districts have reported that OSPI is requiring school boards to adopt policies that allow biological males to participate in girls’ and women’s sports and use female-only facilities.

“Multiple Washington State school districts have reported that OSPI is requiring school boards to adopt policies that allow males to participate in female sports and occupy female-only intimate facilities, thereby raising substantial Title IX concerns,” a Wednesday letter from the Department of Education to Superintendent Chris Reykdal said.

The letter goes on to state, “Like the La Center School District, Mead School District and Kennewick School District have experienced the same predicament—that is, OSPI directing them to adopt its policies regarding student pronouns that appear to conflict with FERPA or these districts face losing state funding. Accordingly, given the number of local educational agencies likely involved in a similar situation … SPPO is taking appropriate actions to enforce FERPA by conducting an investigation…”

SPPO is the Student Privacy Policy Office.

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon noted the unprecedented nature of the investigation.

“Today’s investigation into Washington OSPI is a first-of-its-kind, bringing together ED and DOJ, and multiple offices within ED, to adjudicate several potential violations of federal law,” she said in a news release. “Washington State appears to use its position of authority to coerce its districts into hiding ‘gender identity’ information from students’ parents and to adopt policies to covertly smuggle gender ideology into the classroom, confusing students and letting boys into girls’ sports, bathrooms, and locker rooms. If true, these are clear violations of parental rights and female equality in athletics, which are protected by federal laws that will be enforced by the Trump Administration.”

Reykdal fired back.

“This investigation, which alleges that OSPI is out of compliance with Title IX, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), is the latest target in the Administration’s dangerous war against individuals who are transgender or gender-expansive,” Reykdal said in a news release. “In this alarming attempt to infringe on the rights of our transgender and gender-expansive students, the Department is trying to co-opt laws enacted to protect students from discrimination and distort them into mandated discrimination. The Department also attempts to twist FERPA and PPRA into tools designed to undermine the health, safety, and well-being of students. The interpretations taken by the Department are not supported by these laws.”

This report was first published by The Center Square Washington.