A New Richmond school policy allowing a male student to use girls’ locker room facilities has sparked a backlash from parents and students, thrusting the district into a growing national fight over Title IX, student privacy, and sex-based spaces in public schools.
According to the post, female students and parents raised complaints that a male student was using girls’ facilities, and the district “admitted” its approach publicly. The district’s Board policy on Title IX states it does not discriminate on the basis of sex, including sexual orientation or gender identity, and it frames its obligations under federal Title IX rules.
The privacy in changing areas is not an abstract concept, and discrimination in male and female spaces is necessary. For teenagers, particularly girls, a locker room is a space that is unavoidably vulnerable. If a school’s interpretation of “inclusion” means girls must undress in the presence of biological males, or must change their routines to accommodate the situation.
Legally, schools are operating in a very grey environment. Title IX’s legal text bars sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs. But how “sex” is interpreted, and how regulations are written and enforced, has been subject to shifting federal guidance.
The U.S. Department of Education’s overview notes that its 2024 Title IX regulatory changes took effect in August 2024 but were vacated nationwide by a federal court decision on January 9, 2025, meaning those 2024 rules are “not effective in any jurisdiction.” (RELATED: Tiffany Targets Evers’ “400-Year Veto” as Property Tax Bills Spike Across Wisconsin)
Last year, a similar situation took place at Muskego High School when parents saw the bathroom-and-locker-room question as a privacy issue, not a “culture-war abstraction.” Litigation over a transgender student’s access to girls’ facilities collided with a later district policy stating students should use bathrooms based on sex assigned at birth, an approach that is easier to enforce, and more protective of girls’ spaces.
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