Federal judge rules in favor of Southlake Carroll ISD, blocks expanded Title IX protections
A federal judge issued a temporary ruling Thursday in favor of the Carroll school district’s lawsuit, blocking expanded Title IX protections for LGBTQ students from taking effect in August.
In his ruling, Judge Reed O’Connor of the Northern District of Texas said the injunction covers the Carroll district for now, but requested briefings by July 18 on possibly broadening the ruling to include other school districts.
O’Connor said that implementing the Biden Administration’s changes — which include training staff and issuing new protection guidelines — would cause irreparable harm to Carroll schools and force the district to spend millions to implement the changes.
O’Connor wrote that the Department of Education “admitted” that Carroll would have expenses to comply with the final Title IX regulations, including training staff and implementing policies.
The Carroll school district estimated that it would have to spend $98 million in the first year to comply with the new regulations, O’Connor’s ruling stated.
O’Connor also wrote that a failure to stay “unlawful agency action” would constrain school districts operations and prevent them from educating students, upgrading facilities and constructing new ones.
The ruling also stated that the government would not suffer harm as a result of maintaining the status quo.
“Title IX has prohibited sex discrimination without reference to gender identity for over 50 years. And it will continue to do so.”
O’Connor, a known conservative, said privileging gender identity over biological sex is in no way authorized by the statutory text.
And the “consequences based on this statutory distortion appear limitless. For these reasons, and those stated by other federal courts, Carroll ISD is likely to succeed on the merits of their challenge to the Final Rule,” O’connor wrote.
Attorneys from the Alliance Defending Freedom, the law firm representing the school district pro bono, said the district was correct to pursue legal action against the Biden Administration to protect the safety and security of girls and all students under its supervision.
“The Biden administration’s radical redefinition of ‘sex’ in Title IX upends our education system and ignores biological reality, science, and common sense,” Mathew Hoffmann, legal counsel for the ADF said in a news release. “This dangerous and unnecessary rule change will have devastating consequences for students, teachers, administrators, and families.”
The Carroll school district’s lawsuit is the fifth legal action the ADF has taken to stop the Biden Administration’s efforts to redefine sex under Title IX, according to the news release.
But Ricardo Martinez, CEO of Equality Texas, said in an emailed statement that it is important for the LGBTQ+ students to have the expanded protections.
“The updated Title IX regulations are designed to protect LGBTQIA+ young people, something most Texans support. We know that young people succeed when they feel safe and supported at school, yet many Texas kids report being bullied or feeling alienated at school. Whatever we can do to make our kids feel safe at school, we should do,” the statement said.
Earlier this year, the Carroll school board voted to adopt a resolution denouncing the Biden Administration’s Title IX expanded protections, calling them harmful to girls and women.
The school district then sued the Biden Administration in the Northern District of Texas in Fort Worth.
This story was originally published July 11, 2024 at 10:33 PM.