The U.S. Department of Education informed Denver Public Schools on Thursday that the school district violated Title IX, the federal law against sex discrimination in schools, by making all-gender bathrooms available to students.

The office of civil rights for the education department said that DPS’s policy of allowing students to use bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity, instead of their biological sex, “creates a hostile environment” for students.

The department launched a probe into East High School in January after the district remodeled a restroom used by girls into an all-gender bathroom. Education officials said the move was “misaligned” with federal regulations under Title IX.

Remodeled Bathroom Shaped by Students

District leaders had said at the time that the move came as a result of a student-led process to redesign the bathrooms at the school. District officials stressed that all-gender bathrooms had higher partitions, about 12 feet tall, around the toilets.

The district’s goal was to “give students who are taking on new ways of expressing their gender identities a safe way to access bathrooms,” DPS said.

Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor, however, said the bathroom redesign violated Title IX’s prohibitions on sex discrimination.

“This action effectively denied students at East High School equal access to educational facilities and created a hostile environment in violation of Title IX and its implementing regulations,” Trainor said in a statement.

Education Department Sends Proposed Resolution

Education Department sent Denver Public Schools a proposed resolution plan on Thursday. The plan, which is due back in 10 days, requires the district to meet four requirements to prevent the department from taking enforcement action.

The resolution demands that DPS:

• Restore all-gender multi-stall restrooms to sex-segregated facilities.
• End policies that allow students to use school bathrooms and locker rooms that are designated for the opposite biological sex.
• Replace gender identity in all Title IX policies with “biology-based definitions” of “male” and “female.”

Send a memorandum to all schools clarifying that the bathrooms should protect “student privacy, dignity, and safety” while remaining “comparably accessible to both male and female students.”

District Must Respond in 10 Days

The district must publicly respond within the next 10 days. If the district does not accept the resolution plan, the department could take enforcement action, which could include withdrawing federal funds.

Trainor blasted the district’s all-gender bathroom policies in a statement, claiming it endangered “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 said in a statement.

“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 continued. “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.”

Denver Public Schools has defended its bathroom decision, and it has also said that the students shaped the policy changes.

DPS is expected to issue a public statement in the coming days on the department’s findings. Last year, DPS officials said that “students can use the bathroom they feel most comfortable using.” The district added that the school also had single-stall, all-gender bathrooms available for students who prefer additional privacy.

Schools Issue Becoming National Debate

The decision comes as the question of how schools should handle gender identity issues has become more of a national debate. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transgender girls from playing on school sports teams that don’t match their biological sex.

A group of Republican lawmakers have also proposed legislation that would ban transgender girls from using girls’ bathrooms at school and sports teams.

The Trump administration has been aggressive on gender issues at schools and universities. Earlier this week, the Department of Education found that George Mason University violated federal law by using unlawful diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices in violation of Title VI.

Now, Denver Public Schools must decide whether it will agree to the department’s proposed plan or whether it will try to fight back and keep its all-gender bathroom policies in place.