A growing controversy at a North Carolina high school has escalated into a federal complaint after students and parents accused school officials of dismissing concerns about a transgender student allegedly using the girls’ locker room.
The dispute centers on allegations at Cox Mill High School in Concord, where some female students said they felt uncomfortable changing in front of a biological male student who reportedly used girls’ facilities while participating on school cheer teams, per exclusive reporting from the New York Post.
According to a complaint filed Tuesday by the conservative legal group America First Legal, school administrators failed to address repeated concerns raised by students and parents.
One student, Trista Ruck, publicly addressed the Cabarrus County School Board during a meeting in December, describing what she said classmates had experienced inside the locker room.
“There is a biological male who dresses and acts like a female who is on the football and basketball cheer team. That is not the issue. The issue is whenever he dresses and undresses in the women’s locker room and uses the women’s restroom,” Ruck told board members.
She also relayed claims from another student-athlete who allegedly felt uneasy after noticing the student watching girls change clothes during team workouts.
“[A] peer of mine, who is on a sports team, [said] that during scheduled spring workouts for her sport, she was in the locker room changing when she noticed him watching her and the other girls dress and undress,” Ruck said. “She stated that this made her feel extremely uncomfortable.”
Ruck further claimed school leadership brushed aside the complaints. She read what she said was a response from then-principal Chris Myers, who allegedly told students officials had “decided that there isn’t anything we can do” and suggested girls who felt uncomfortable “can go somewhere else.”
Ruck also said she personally avoided using school restrooms because of the situation and accused administrators of ignoring student concerns.
Days after the school board meeting, the district publicly confirmed Myers had resigned from his position as principal.
America First Legal later filed complaints with both the Department of Education and the Department of Justice, arguing the district may have violated Title IX protections against sex-based discrimination.
“Girls should never be forced to sacrifice their privacy, safety, or dignity because school officials are afraid to tell the truth about biological sex,” AFL senior counsel Ian Prior said in a statement.
“Federal officials must get involved, investigate immediately, and ensure that Cabarrus County Schools follows federal law, not woke ideology.”
The complaint also claimed concerns about transgender student access to girls’ facilities had been raised as early as 2024.
Administrators allegedly responded at the time that the district did “not have a specific policy” and instead relied on the Biden administration’s interpretation of Title IX protections related to gender identity.
In its filing, AFL argued that requiring female students to share locker rooms and restrooms with biological males created what it described as a “hostile educational environment.”
