Regional School Unit 73 Director Tina Riley of Jay, center, talks March 27 about proposed changes to five policies during the board meeting at Spruce Mountain High School in Jay. Beside her are Directors Andrew Sylvester of Livermore and Lenia Coates of Livermore Falls. Pam Harnden/Livermore Falls Advertiser

JAY — Regional School Unit 73 directors have approved the first reading of five policies related to harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination and Title IX.

Voting in favor on March 27 were Danielle Brotherton, Elaine Fitzgerald and Tina Riley, all of Jay; Sarah Jamison and Andrew Sylvester, both of Livermore; and Lenia Coates and Don Emery, both of Livermore Falls. Opposed were Jodi Cordes and Dawn Strout, both of Jay, Holly Morris of Livermore and Michelle Moffett and Roger Moulton, both of Livermore Falls. Bryan Riley of Jay was absent.

Title IX of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance.

Chairperson Tina Riley suggested taking the five policies up at once. Policy ACAA covers harassment and sexual harassment of students, ACAA-R covers student discrimination/harassment and Title IX sexual harassment, ACAB dovers harassment and sexual harassment of school employees, ACAB-R covers employee discrimination/harassment and Title IX sexual harassment, and AC covers nondiscrimination/equal opportunity and affirmative action.

Moulton asked if the policies address the transgender sports issue.

At the Feb. 27 meeting, some directors suggested holding the next Policy Committee on March 10 rather than the scheduled date of March 24 to address changes the Biden administration implemented that were changed again by the Trump administration regarding Title IX. Riley said mostly procedural issues were involved and suggested following the district’s legal advice to roll back the policies to what they had been before Biden’s changes.

Morris was concerned about federal funding while Moffett wanted to ensure women were protected.

Jamison spoke of litigation and potential costs to the district. A motion to roll back wording in the policies failed by a 6-5 vote because a two-thirds majority was needed to pass.

During public comments March 27, Ava Moffett a Spruce Mountain graduate from Livermore Falls, spoke against transgender individuals participating in women’s sports. Counsel’s advice to adhere to the Maine Human Rights Act is in opposition of President Trump’s executive order to defend women’s sports, she said. “These lawyers are dismissing the voices of girls and women in our school districts and compromising their safety,” she said, adding she hoped the board would defend the district’s women athletes.

Ed Walsh said one reason he chose Jay as a place to live 25 years ago was the acceptance of all people, regardless of background, race or sexual orientation. “We are talking about our children, the next generation of adults in our community,” he said. Several adults have spoken out about transgender youth, their participation in sports, he said. There are only two students in the entire state, he pointed out.

“The 2023 US national survey on mental health of the LGBTQ found that 41% of the LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including roughly half of our transgender youth,” Walsh said. Transgender children are being marginalized, bullying is being learned by watching adults, he said.

Riley said the five policies were updated just a few weeks ago to the 2023 standards. “Those were rolled back to the Title IX level and it went through the courts,” she said. “Those are being rolled back to the 2020 version of harassment and sexual harassment for both students and employees and for discrimination and Title IX discrimination as well. Also the procedures for handling complaints.”

The committee had a spirited discussion on how much they should be amended, Riley said. “The advice from our lawyers is to just roll these back to the 2020 versions while everything else is tied up in court. The reason for this is that if we get ahead of what the courts have determined are the standing state and federal laws” the district could be sued. “For instance, if we roll back the part of our policy that adheres to the Maine Human Rights Act and somebody sues us for violating the Maine Human Rights Act our insurance may not even cover us.”

That fight would be on the district’s dime, Riley stressed.

The committee agreed to roll policies back to the 2020 version, wait to see whatever comes along before making other changes, she said.

Morris said her niece received a scholarship for excelling in cross country and wouldn’t have received the education she did if she had had to compete with transgender athletes.

“Our legal representation is absolutely politically biased in one direction,” Moulton said. “It’s always going to come back to us whatever supports that. I am frustrated by that. I am going to be voting no on this because I don’t think we rolled it back far enough.”

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