Shawnee Mission refuses to sign federal agreement, change rules for trans students

While one Johnson County school district recently agreed to change its rules around sports participation and bathroom usage in order to conclude a U.S. Department of Education investigation into its policies regarding students’ genders, another refused to sign the agreement — calling the investigation a “sham process” — despite the looming threats of funding cuts.

“Given these onerous terms proposed for resolution and the baseless allegation of noncompliance with this investigation, (the Shawnee Mission School District) is not interested in pursuing a resolution agreement in this matter,” attorneys for the Shawnee Mission School District wrote to the federal education department on May 4.

In April, the federal education department’s Student Privacy Policy Office and Office for Civil Rights accused Shawnee Mission — alongside Olathe Public Schools, Kansas City Kansas Public Schools and Topeka Public Schools — of having gender identity policies that violate Title IX, a federal civil rights law prohibiting sex-based discrimination, and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

In particular, the department claimed the districts’ policies might prevent schools from notifying parents if their child goes by a different name or uses different pronouns than those correlating to their sex assigned at birth, or that they allow students to participate in sports and use restrooms based on their gender identity — “raising significant compliance concerns,” according to the federal education department.

The department threatened to terminate the school districts’ federal funding if district officials refused to sign onto resolution agreements, which would ensure they would enforce sports participation and restroom usage based on students’ sex assigned at birth. The department said the districts must also promise to make information readily available to parents about their child’s desire to use different pronouns or transition genders.

Shawnee Mission disagrees

Fearful of any prolonged financial impacts, Olathe Public Schools signed an agreement with the federal department on Friday, but pushed back on the allegations the department raised against the district — calling them “completely unfounded” and “grossly misrepresented.”

Olathe didn’t admit any wrongdoing when signing the agreement, however the district will define “sex” as a student’s sex assigned at birth and prohibit students with male birth certificates from competing in girls sports and vice versa. They also agreed that students’ “gender support plans” would qualify as education records and be visible for parental review.

It appears Shawnee Mission officials, on the contrary, put their foot down.

In a letter written to the department’s Office for Civil Rights, attorneys for Shawnee Mission wrote that the district cannot agree to the terms of the resolution outlined by the Office for Civil Rights — claiming that the findings have “inaccurate statements of law, false allegations of fact, and unreasonable conditions” required to resolve the investigation.

“Finally, the resolution agreement you have provided contains provisions that are inconsistent with the values that inform our work of supporting all children in our communities,” the letter said. “We will never issue a policy that devalues certain members of our diverse community.”

‘Unreasonable and inconsistent’

In the letter, the district questioned what policy changes were needed when the department didn’t cite any specific instances of the district violating Title IX, FERPA or Kansas law.

“To the contrary, SMSD’s approach to facilities access, participation in interscholastic sports and parental access to educational records is in full compliance with the Department’s interpretation of Title IX and FERPA,” the letter said. “There is nothing to remedy here, which makes a resolution agreement inappropriate.”

Additionally, the agreement the department provided contains several requirements that are “both unreasonable and inconsistent with the SMSD community’s core values,“ the district said.

In the resolution, the department requested Shawnee Mission to issue a policy that includes sweeping philosophical assertions, such as that there are “only two sexes” — male and female — and that the sex of a human is unchangeable.

“Issuing a policy with that language would in effect constitute a refusal to acknowledge the existence of transgender individuals,” the school district’s letter said. “The effect of such a statement on transgender students in our schools and others in our community would unfairly demean and diminish those members of our community and conflict with our district’s value of belonging.”

No conclusion on the horizon

Despite working with the federal education department for months, Shawnee Mission leaders said they see “little to no prospect” of coming to an agreement that works for both parties, according to the letter.

“The ‘investigation’ which has led to these conditions was never a constructive effort to reach a mutually agreeable resolution, consistent with the traditional approach of the Department,” the letter said. “Rather, it was a sham process designed to reach a predetermined outcome untethered to the facts or controlling standards of law.”

A Shawnee Mission spokesperson said the district is “hopeful” that they can engage in discussions to negotiate an agreement that SMSD can accept.

However, if the department insists on its agreement terms, “we do not believe such a resolution is possible,” the district’s letter said.

The U.S. Department of Education did not immediately respond for comment before publication.

Kendrick Calfee contributed reporting.