As you are most certainly aware, the U.S. Department of Education issued a Final Rule on Title IX that went into effect on August 1, 2024. This “2024 Rule” made significant changes to the Final Rule on Title IX that went into effect on August 14, 2020 (the “2020 Rule”).
Based on legal challenges brought by 26 states, court decisions have resulted in an injunction against the U.S. Department of Education preventing it from enforcing the 2024 Rule in those states. However, some of the parties to those lawsuits were also advocacy groups, including Young America’s Foundation, Female Athletes United, and Moms for Liberty. The U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas issued an injunction that applies to all schools where these advocacy groups have members/children, in any state. Therefore, a school can be affected by the injunction, without having participated in any legal proceedings regarding Title IX. These groups update the list of schools on an ongoing basis, as new members are added. This makes the additional schools subject to the injunction.
To determine whether your school(s) are affected by the injunction and what steps you need to take next, follow this roadmap:
Check the lists available at https://www.ed.gov/media/document/list-of-schools-enjoined-2024-t9-rulepdf. This document is a culmination of multiple lists, so it is important to check the entire document rather than look at one “Connecticut” list. Use CTRL+F to search the entire list; look for the names of schools rather than districts. This list may be supplemented in the future.
- If one or more schools in your district are on this list, this means that the Department of Education is prohibited (enjoined) from enforcing the 2024 Rule at the listed schools. However, the injunction does not limit the ability of any district to adopt or follow its own policies, or otherwise comply with applicable state or local laws or rules. Rather, it simply prohibits the Department of Education from demanding compliance with the 2024 Rule by the schools affected by the order or imposing any consequences for such schools’ failure to comply with the 2024 Rule. In other words, any district that opts to follow the 2024 Rule for all of its schools may still do so.
- If all of your district’s schools are on the injunction list, the Board may choose whether to follow the 2020 Rule or the 2024 Rule for the district as a whole. If some of the schools are on the list, the Board may choose whether to follow the 2020 Rule for the schools on the list while following the 2024 Rule for the schools not on the list. We believe that the most justifiable legal position and the most administratively feasible option is to comply with the 2024 Rule, particularly if only some of the district’s schools are on the list.
- Remember that other state and federal laws apply. For example, with much of the controversy surrounding the 2024 Rule relating to transgender rights, it is important to recognize that Connecticut law prohibits discrimination against students and staff based on gender identity; thus, reverting to the 2020 Rule would not meaningfully alter the obligations of a school district with respect to gender identity or expression as a protected status.
- If one or more of your district’s schools are on the list, you may receive communications from advocacy groups notifying you of the injunction. Some of these communications may not make it clear that the district/school can still choose to comply with the 2024 Rule. Determine how you will respond to such communications and seek legal counsel before making any decisions based on such communications.
Title IX compliance is a rapidly changing area of the law. We are available to provide training, policies/regulations, and toolkit documents to comply with the 2024 Rule. Stay tuned for further updates as the incoming administration has signaled an intention to make significant changes in this area.