The Frederick County school board voted Wednesday to continue allowing students in the district to use whichever bathroom or locker room they choose, and to compete on boys or girls sports teams regardless of their biological sex.
However, in that 4-2 vote, the board also removed the requirement that students and staff use someone’s “preferred pronouns,” and now encourages the involvement of parents in discussing a child’s gender identity, according to The Frederick News-Post.
“I think it strikes the best balance that we can achieve right now in light of the current law,” school board member Rae Gallagher said, according to the News-Post.
The school board did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Another board member, Colt Black, voiced concerns that the policy opens the door to lawsuits and the loss of federal funding. Black, who won his 2024 election after campaigning to end the policy, said the board was putting “ideology … over our kids once again.”
Board member Dean Rose, however, claimed they would “would most certainly be sued” if they took the policy away, the News-Post reported.
The Trump administration has made clear its intention to protect both sports and private spaces for girls, with President Donald Trump signing several executive orders to that effect. The Department of Education (ED) has opened investigations into multiple districts and begun the process of revoking or limiting federal funding from schools that fail to follow federal directives.
Despite this, several districts, such as Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia, continue to openly defy these orders.
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