New Richmond Parents for Strong Schools and high school student Ella Frei have filed a federal lawsuit against the New Richmond School District, “alleging that its bathroom policy violates the rights of high school girls under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.”
That’s according to the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, which is representing the plaintiffs. “WILL represents the Association—which includes both parents and female students—seeking an end to the district’s policy and a declaration that the girls’ civil rights were violated by the district’s actions,” a statement from WILL says.
The situation has been boiling over for some time. Ben Engelhart, a New Richmond, Wisconsin, school board member, previously told Wisconsin Right Now that “the superintendent and principals are allowing biological males in the school bathrooms” for girls. His comments followed multiple parents and community members slamming school board members at a contentious board meeting on January 29.
“Girls should feel safe at school and their privacy should be respected. New Richmond schools left parents and young girls no choice but to go to court and sue to end this ridiculous policy allowing biological boys into the girls’ bathroom,” WILL Deputy Counsel, Cory Brewer, said. “WILL is proud to represent this association of parents and students to bring an end to this destructive and dangerous policy.”
WILL Client, High School Junior, Ella Frei, stated, “Protecting girls by not allowing boys in the girls’ bathroom shouldn’t be controversial—it should be common sense. We are not going to abandon our identity as girls or ignore the real privacy concerns the school district has forced on us.”
The District’s Policy
“The New Richmond School District has a policy allowing boys to use the girl’s bathroom based on a students personal feeling of ‘gender identity.’ The policy has resulted in at least one male being frequently present in the girls’ bathrooms with girls, causing anxiety, stress, and an invasion of personal privacy for the girls,” WILL wrote.
“New Richmond Parents for Strong Schools is an unincorporated association of students and parents of students who are or were enrolled in the New Richmond School District,” added WILL.
WILL’s Legal Argument: Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 provides that, “[n]o person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” 20 U.S.C. § 1681(a).” The implementing regulations of Title IX state that “[a] recipient may provide separate toilet, locker room, and shower facilities on the basis of sex, but such facilities provided for students of one sex shall be comparable to such facilities provided for students of the other sex.” 34 C.F.R. § 106.33 (2020).
“We are seeking a declaration that Defendant’s actions and practices violate Plaintiff’s rights under Title IX by forcing their children to be denied an equal opportunity in their education; a declaration that Defendant’s actions and practices violate Plaintiff’s constitutional rights under the 14th Amendment which prohibits sex discrimination; as well as a permanent injunction enjoining the District Defendants’ policy and ordering Defendants to permit only females to enter and use the District’s girls’ private facilities and only males enter and use the boys’ private facilities,” WILL added.
Before the lawsuit was filed, the School District told the Journal Sentinel: “The safety and security of all of our students is our top priority as a District, and we remain committed to ensuring that our students have the best learning environment possible. The District also takes its legal obligations very seriously and has remained in compliance with all applicable laws in this area.”
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