Kennewick School District files OCR complaint against Washington state officials including State Superintendent and Interscholastic Activities Association for allowing men to participate in women’s sports and for forcing district to adopt transgender policy that excludes parents

The Kennewick School District filed a formal Title IX Civil Rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) against Washington State officials including Washington State Superintendent Chris Reykdal, Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) “for policies and practices leading to sex-based discrimination in Washington state schools and student athletics.”

The district’s school board explained in their letter that they requested “URGENT federal intervention due to open and egregious Title IX violations currently occurring within the state’s student athletics as well as requisite school district policies mandated by the state which are direct violation of Title IX.” They explained that the WIAA and state policy “allow biologic males to participate in female athletics in direct violation of the Executive Orders issued by President Donald J. Trump on January 20, 2025, and February 5, 2025.” They then provided an example:

Currently in high school girls track there is at least one male competing against females. This male unfairly competed last year, winning the 2024 girl’s state 400m title which directly led to his team winning the Girl’s state 2A track title.

The state has also mandated that the district revise its transgender policy “to conform to a state-wide model policy (3211/3211P) that directly violates Title IX.” The school board explains that in doing so would put the district in violation of President Trump’s executive orders and risk federal funding, which accounts for 10% of the district’s annual budget. The district explained that the state found problems with its policy over “communication and use of pronouns” and “collaborative family communication.” The state is mandating changes that would allow the gender identity of students to be hidden from parents.

The board members explained that the district is stuck between potentially either losing state funds for not complying with state transgender guidelines or federal funding for not complying with President Trump’s executive orders.

Chris Reykdal has served as the Washington State superintendent since 2017. The state has seen a significant decline in mathematics and reading scores for eighth-grade students during his tenure, according to the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) report. From 2017 to 2024, math scores for eighth-grade students declined by fifteen points. During that same time, reading scores fell by thirteen points.