If board members don’t speak up, there’s no opportunity to change.”

Chair Carrie Tate

A majority of ISD 200 School Board members have signed a letter to the Minnesota Department of Education, the Minnesota State High School League, and the Attorney General’s office calling for Minnesota to comply with Title IX based on a new study from the US Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.

“The undersigned elected members of school boards across the State of Minnesota, on behalf of ourselves and our constituents, not on behalf of our respective independent school districts, write to express our strong support for immediate compliance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972,” starts the letter.

The letter references a Sept. 30 report from the US Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights that alleges that Minnesota is violating Title IX by allowing transgender athletes to play in the sport that aligns with their gender identity.

“Female students in our districts and across Minnesota deserve equal chances to excel in sports, free from unfair physical advantages that biological differences confer. By entering into the resolution agreement, MDE and MSHSL can ensure equal treatment and foster an environment where female athletes can thrive,” said the letter.

Just under 300 school board members across the state have signed the letter at time of writing including four ISD 200 board members: Chair Carrie Tate, Vice Chair Jessica Dressley, Clerk Melissa Millner, and Director Philip Biermaier.

The Sept. 30 report from the US Department of Education set out a 10-day deadline to change guidance, update definitions of “male” and “female,” and issue an apology to all female athletes for “records and titles misappropriated by male athletes competing in female categories,” among other changes, according to a Sept. 30 press release from the US Department of Education.

Not making these changes by Oct. 10 would “risk imminent enforcement action.” That action would include pulling funding, which Tate called her biggest concern:

“We take about $3 million a year in this district in federal funding. So with that truly being on the line, is there an option to comply and then work this out in the courts and make sure that we still continue to get funding?”

That Oct. 10 deadline has come and gone, however. The timeline is believed to have been disrupted by the current federal government shutdown which is set to enter its third week.

With a majority of the board signed onto the letter, Tate called board action “certainly a possibility,” and referenced recent similar action taken by the Forest Lake Public School District.

Earlier this month, the Forest Lake School Board adopted and authorized a similar letter to the Minnesota Department of Education, the Minnesota State High School League, and the Attorney General’s office expressing “our strong support for immediate compliance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.”

Tate was open that she didn’t think this was an issue within Hastings athletics currently, saying that therefore allegedly staying out of compliance with Title IX would “be foregoing our federal funding for no reason.”

“If board members don’t speak up, there’s no opportunity to change,” said Tate.