The U.S. Department of Education said Thursday that Denver Public Schools broke Title IX when they opened all-gender bathrooms and did not allow students to use them in accordance with their biological sex.

The department’s Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation in January regarding a decision to make a female restroom into an all-gender restroom at East High School. The federal government said the change was not in compliance with Title IX, which bans sex discrimination in educational institutions.

What the Investigation Concerned

Denver Public Schools made a girls’ bathroom into an all-gender restroom while leaving a restroom for boys on the same floor. District leaders said it was a result of a student-led process and noted that the all-gender facilities have 12-foot-tall partitions around each toilet for privacy and safety.

In its decision, the Department of Education said that by allowing students to use all-gender restrooms instead of sex-segregated ones on the basis of their gender identity, the district had violated Title IX by depriving students of equal access and contributing to a “hostile environment.”

District later added another all-gender restroom on the same floor to “mitigate any perceptions of unfairness,” according to the resolution from the Education Department.

Students still had access to other single-sex bathrooms as well as single-stall, all-gender bathrooms around the school, according to district officials.

The Resolution Plan Proposed by the Federal Government

The Department of Education sent a draft resolution to the district with four conditions that must be agreed upon within 10 days to avoid enforcement.

In the draft resolution, the department wants the district to:

Change all all-gender multi-stall restrooms back to either female or male facilities.

Stop having policies that allow students to use bathrooms not associated with their biological sex.

Define “male” and “female” based on biology in all of its Title IX policies and practices.

Send a memorandum to schools restating that restrooms should be “safe, accessible, and comparable for all students, while also protecting student privacy, dignity, and safety.”

If the district does not agree to the resolution, it will be subject to enforcement and could lose its federal funding.

Reasons Offered by the Federal Officials for Their Action

Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Craig Trainor, said in a statement that the district “endanger[ed] 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 continued.

“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 said, adding, “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.”

Defending Itself, the Denver Public School’s Comments

District officials have previously defended the decision saying that the policy changes were made after a student-led process and that the all-gender facilities still had 12-foot partitions around each toilet.

In response to the new findings, Denver Public Schools has not released a public statement. The district has previously said that students still have access to traditional bathrooms for both men and women as well as single-stall, all-gender restrooms around the school, if they want additional privacy.

A National Debate Is Involved

This case is not the first time in which the Trump administration has weighed in on a local school district decision regarding gender policies. In March, the president signed an executive order preventing transgender girls from playing on sports teams that are not associated with their biological sex.

Republican members of Congress have also been targeting this issue, introducing a bill earlier this year that would bar transgender students from using bathrooms or playing on sports teams that correspond with their gender identity.

The Education Department is wading into multiple cases in which it says colleges and universities have violated federal laws in their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices. Just last week, officials said that George Mason University broke Title VI with unlawful DEI practices.

What to Expect Now

Denver Public Schools is now left with the choice of accepting the proposed resolution or facing enforcement action which could mean the loss of millions of federal funds.

The district will have 10 days to respond to the draft resolution and its findings from the Education Department. They must now decide if they will roll back their all-gender bathroom policies.