On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Education said Denver Public Schools had violated Title IX, the federal law banning sex-based discrimination in schools, after the district created all-gender bathrooms and permitted students to use facilities based on their gender identity as opposed to their biological sex.

The Office for Civil Rights within the department opened the Title IX investigation in January, focusing on Denver’s East High School after the district decided to convert a girls’ bathroom into an all-gender facility, which the officials said was contrary to federal requirements under Title IX.

District Converted Female Bathroom to All-Gender

In making the restroom changes, the district had redesigned a girls’ bathroom into an all-gender facility, but the restroom next door on the same floor remained a male bathroom, which district leaders said was done after a student-led process. The department, however, said the decision failed to meet federal guidelines. District leaders also said the newly redesigned all-gender bathrooms have 12-foot-tall partitions around toilets and fixtures to increase student privacy and safety.

Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said the district’s actions amounted to violations of Title IX, as the decision had the “effect of denying students equal access to the school’s intimate facilities” and created what the department termed “hostile environment.”

To address what officials described as fairness and equity concerns, the district later introduced another all-gender bathroom on the same floor. District officials also pointed out that students could still use traditional male or female bathrooms in the school, as well as single-stall all-gender facilities in other areas of the school if they so desired.

Education Department Proposes Resolution

In a letter to the district Thursday, the Department of Education proposed a resolution which, if agreed to by the district, would impose conditions to resolve the Title IX complaint.

The resolution said the district would need to comply with the four conditions within 10 days of receipt to avoid enforcement action from the department. The proposal also said that the district would need to:

Reclassify all all-gender multi-stall restrooms back to sex-segregated facilities

Terminate all policies and practices that allow students to access school bathrooms and intimate care facilities based on their gender identity rather than their biological sex

Revise its “policies, practices, and any other programmatic components to use ‘biology-based definitions’ of “male” and “female” in the school’s use and interpretation of Title IX and its implementing regulations,” the resolution read

Issue a written directive to all schools in the district saying that “all intimate care facilities…protect the privacy, dignity, and safety of all students and are readily accessible and comparable to the extent necessary to afford an equal opportunity to students of each sex.”

If the district does not agree to the proposed resolution, then the Education Department would move to enforcement action, including the possible termination of federal funding.

Trainor cited student safety and privacy concerns in the department’s statement. “Denying students the privacy, safety, and dignity that comes with sex-segregated restrooms and the comparable access and equal opportunity that Title IX and its implementing regulations provide is the very definition of discrimination on the basis of sex in violation of federal law,” Trainor said.

The district has defended the decision, with officials saying the policy change was part of a student-led process to address the needs of students and to ensure privacy and safety in the bathrooms.

District Has Yet to Comment on Decision

In a statement, DPS said, “Students have a range of options when it comes to bathrooms and other facilities. For students who seek more privacy, there are single-stall, all-gender restrooms throughout the school.”

Denver Public Schools has not yet publicly commented on the resolution from the federal government. The district, however, has previously defended its bathroom policies, saying the decision came after a student-led process to address student needs. It had also argued that the all-gender bathrooms, in this case, were created with 12-foot-tall partitions around toilets and fixtures to protect privacy and security.

Broader Fight Over Student Privacy, Equality

In the recent past, the federal government has also blocked universities from using unlawful diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs to discriminate based on sex, race, and national origin, with George Mason University cited earlier this week by the department.

President Donald Trump this year also signed an executive order banning transgender girls from playing on women’s sports teams at schools receiving federal funding. Republican lawmakers in Congress have also introduced legislation to prohibit transgender students from using bathrooms or joining sports teams that match their gender identity.

The Denver case comes at a time when debates have intensified on how best to handle matters of gender identity in public spaces. Last month, a judge in Alabama blocked a directive by the state health department to give patients who identify as transgender “other” or “not listed” sex on public health records in Alabama.

With the federal government warning that failure to roll back the changes could result in the termination of federal funding, Denver Public Schools now has 10 days to respond to the Education Department and make the call on whether to pull back its all-gender bathroom policies.