New Title IX rule to broaden protection of LGBTQ students faces pushback in Bellefonte

The Biden administration’s new Title IX regulations went into place Aug. 1, but one Centre County school district moved this week to hold off on adopting the changes, following a meeting where community members voiced concerns and shared misinformation.

The new regulations introduce additional protections for LGBTQ students, prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. In response, 26 states have filed lawsuits against the Title IX rewrite. In July, a federal judge in Kansas blocked the enforcement of the new protections for students in Kansas, Alaska, Utah and Wyoming.

At a Tuesday night board meeting, the Bellefonte Area school board tabled its resolution to adopt and comply with the new regulations after seven people spoke against the motion during public comment.

Comments ranged from concerns about trans students on athletic teams to how the district would handle trans students in bathrooms and locker rooms. Some asked the district to consider forgoing federal funding in order to disregard the new regulations.

But despite nearly every public comment mentioning high school sports, the Title IX regulations do not include changes to athletics. The Biden administration originally sought to include additional protections for transgender athletes but removed them before the final release, according to reporting from the AP.

“The Department’s rulemaking process is still ongoing for a Title IX regulation related to athletics,” the Department of Education’s website reads.

What would losing federal funding mean?

Prior to the meeting, Win4Bellefonte, the PAC that swept Bellefonte Area school board election in November, filling four seats, posted about the new Title IX regulations on Facebook. The post encouraged community members to attend Tuesday’s meeting and said that giving up federal funding would only be $2 million of the district’s budget, a figure several people echoed during public comment.

But walking away from federal funding wouldn’t allow the district to disregard the Title IX regulations, Ken Bean, director of fiscal affairs, told the CDT.

“If you do not participate, or if you choose not to participate with Title IX, then you don’t get federal funds, which is $1.2 million for the Bellefonte school district,” Bean said. “The problem with doing that is, besides the money, it’s still a federal law. You still have to abide by the federal law.”

Bellefonte residents aren’t the only ones voicing concerns about the Title IX changes. Penns Valley Area board member Dan Hall spoke out against the new regulations during an independent community meeting on Aug. 6 and asked community members to attend upcoming meetings that contain policies relating to Title IX.

Abandoning federal funding in order to not comply with Title IX does not mean Pennsylvania public schools don’t still have protections for LGBTQ students. According to the Education Law Center, all state schools, including charter schools, prohibit discrimination based on gender identity, expression and sexual orientation under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act.

Although Pennsylvania is not part of any lawsuit, some schools are exempt from the new regulations under the Kansas v. Department of Education case. The judge’s injunction prevents the rule’s enforcement in any schools attended by students affiliated with the groups Young America’s Foundation, Female Athletes United and Moms for Liberty.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry also voiced support for the new regulations along with the Pennsylvania Human Rights Commission.

“All students deserve to learn in a safe environment free from harassment and discrimination,” Henry wrote in a press release. “While there will be a limited number of schools and students impacted, and that number could expand, this decision from a Kansas federal court does not affect Pennsylvania law. We are allied with partners, like the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, to ensure schools remain safe havens for student learning and achievement.”

Impact on LGBTQ students

As for trans students, they’ve been in the Bellefonte Area School District for years, using the bathrooms and locker rooms of their gender identity and working alongside the administration to find solutions. Michael Fedisson, the principal of Bellefonte Area High School, spoke during Tuesday’s meeting about how the administration handles students going through the gender transitioning process.

“Every situation is different with every student, as far as their transition,” Fedisson said. “Sometimes you can start out with students who are transitioning and are comfortable with changing their look or being called by different names, so on and so forth. You can get to the point where students are wearing different clothes and they feel comfortable to the point where they want to use locker room space, bathroom space, consistent with their gender identity.”

For students who are uncomfortable sharing a bathroom or a locker room with a trans student, Fedisson said they are given the option to change in a separate bathroom or the nurse’s office.

Fedisson also addressed a concern raised by some board members and community members that students would fake a gender transition in order to gain access to a different locker room or bathroom.

“So in our experience, for students that are transitioning that has never been their intention, that’s a very deeply personal journey that they’re on, and it is progressive,” Fedisson said. “So it’s not one day I’m going to decide I want to be a different gender for that purpose.”

Board solicitor Carl Beard could not say when the item would reappear on the agenda, but the board said it would consider bringing it back after several out-of-state legal objections and injunctions had been resolved.

Board president Jon Guizar said the board and district is “in limbo” while the regulations are stuck in the court system. He said the district has protections for students and does not discriminate in any way, but added that affirming the resolution was too rushed.

“It’s not fair to anybody,” Guizar said. “And gender dysphoria is real. You can be a denier on that or you can accept that. So it is a real thing, and we can’t discriminate against people that are experiencing that.”

In a statement to the CDT, Centre LGBT+, a community support network based in State College, encouraged districts to adopt the new regulations.

“These updated Title IX regulations providing greater protections for LGBT+ youth represent a critical step forward for protecting, supporting and empowering our nation’s queer youth — especially trans and nonbinary kids, who are uniquely vulnerable in our current climate,” the statement read. “...We would welcome the opportunity to work with our local school districts on best supporting and empowering Centre County’s LGBT+ students.”

This story was originally published August 16, 2024 at 1:41 PM.