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JAY — A motion made at the Regional School Unit 73 meeting Thursday night, Feb. 27, that a scheduled Policy Committee meeting be held sooner saw no action taken after an amendment did not obtain the required two-thirds majority necessary for an item not on the agenda.

At issue are changes the Biden administration implemented that have been changed again by the Trump administration regarding Title IX.

Director Holly Morris of Livermore motioned to move the meeting to March 10 “to address the Title IX issues that’s tied to central funding.”

“We have already got a policy meeting on the books for a little further out, March 24,” Director Tina Riley of Jay, chair of the Policy Committee, said. “I don’t see what we save by moving it up two weeks. We are going to be fine. This is mostly a procedural change. It’s rolling back what we have right now to what we had before we did all this work that we did just a few weeks ago.”

It’s not that big a change, Riley noted. “I do not see any sense in  disrupting schedules,” she said. “It’s not a great day for me.”

Director Dawn Strout of Jay asked why the meeting should be moved up.

“I feel that we are tied to federal funding,” Morris replied. “Time is of the essence. We are moving in Trump time and Trump time changes frequently. I know that the funding from the state comes from the federal government, normally goes through the state. But I have seen lots of information saying, if you abide by these policies or back track our policies to the originals that was just changed, that the federal level of funding they won’t look bad on us.”

Time may be essential, why not move the meeting if it can be, Morris added.

Riley said it is not tied to funding, changes could be made at the scheduled meeting and the district would be okay.

“I can see why we would expedite it,” Director Roger Moulton of Livermore Falls said. “I’m honestly angry that we masked our children for as long as we did, and our excuse was federal and state funding. Now we are going to play this game and delay our funding. I’m not happy with the MPA [Maine Principals Association], not happy with the Department of Education, nor am I happy with Janet Mills. I have two daughters, and risking federal funding for these games after we masked the least affected group during coronavirus is really mindboggling to me, and unsettling.”

Moulton agreed the meeting should be moved. “It’s not going to do us any favors to drag our feet,” Moulton said. “I don’t mind setting the precedent saying I care about our female athletes at RSU 73.”

Riley reiterated she was unavailable March 10, no real reason had been given for moving the meeting. “We have no deadline,” she noted. “We have no crushing need to roll that back. It’s largely an administrative procedure, can do that on the time schedule that we have set up.”

Strout referenced an email from the district’s attorneys sent to people at the last policy meeting about going back to 2020. “That’s what our lawyers are telling us to do and I think it is important,” she said. “It is not a big deal. We just have to go back to 2020. Why not just get it over with so we can raise our hands and say federal government, we are doing what you told us to do.”

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An amendment was made by Riley to roll back the relevant policies to what they were at the beginning of the school year thus eliminating the need for an earlier meeting.

Director Michelle Moffett of Livermore Falls asked if the roll back would cover the entirety of Title IX, including protecting women.

“What we would be doing is following the legal advice we were given to simply roll back our policies to what they were before,” Riley responded. “Then we’ll wait for everything else to settle out in the courts. If something else changes in the future, then we’ll deal with it then.”

Chair Don Emery of Livermore Falls noted the policies to be rolled back are AC: Non-discrimination/Equal opportunity, ACAA: Harassment of students and ACAB: Harassment and sexual harassment of employees.

If those policies are turned back for Title  IX how does the Maine Human Rights Act play into it, Morris asked. She felt Title IX was canceled by the act.

“Right now that issue is in the courts,” Riley responded. “I think it would be wasteful and unhelpful to try to figure out what the courts are going to do. I think we let that settle. Eventually we will have guidance.”

Moulton shared how women started their own leagues after Title IX, suggested transgender athletes do the same now. He wanted to protect the district’s women athletes.

Director Sarah Jamison of Livermore noted RSU 73 is not affluent, would follow legal advice to prevent unnecessary litigation.

Director Elaine Fitzgerald of Jay said if the attorneys recommended going back to 2020 they must have had clarity on the issue.

Changes to Title IX implemented by the Biden administration had made it through the courts and district policies were updated to reflect those this year, Riley said. The attorneys indicate changes from the Trump administration necessitate rolling back those updates to what they were before, she noted. “We can do that,” she stressed. “They said that right in the letter.”

“I am embarrassed to be on a board that will not let our female athletes know that we will stand up for them and protect them,” Moulton said.

Moffett was concerned about funding impacts for special education students and those who rely on free meals. “I think that needs to be included in the discussion and be part of that decision making process,” she said.

“I think it’s clear that we can’t  make this decision tonight and we do need to go back to the original of when is the policy meeting getting changed to,” Director Jodi Cordes of Jay stated. “There’s too much that we don’t know.”

Riley noted the amendment to roll back policies needed to be voted on. She felt it was the purview of committees to set meeting dates, not the board as a whole.

Strout suggested approving the rollbacks, then the committee could discuss other issues at the scheduled meeting.

Directors voting to roll back the policies were Danielle Brotherton of Jay, Lenia Coates of Livermore Falls, Fitzgerald, Jamison, Riley and Strout. Voting against were Cordes, Emery, Moffett, Morrison, and Moulton. Directors Bryan Riley of Jay and Andrew Sylvester of Livermore were absent.

With the result 6-5 the motion failed, Emery noted. “It needs to be a two-thirds vote because it was not on the agenda,” he explained.

No further action was taken on the issue.