The Winthrop School Committee is considering altering its policies to prohibit transgender students from playing sports and using facilities that align with their gender identity.

Doing so would change the Winthrop district’s current policies, which are in line with Maine state law, to meet President Donald Trump’s interpretation of the federal anti-discrimination law known as Title IX. Trump issued an executive order last year and argued that allowing transgender students to compete in girls sports contradicts Title IX because it deprives girls of fair athletic opportunities.

Seven districts that have changed their policies to align with Trump’s definition are being sued by the Maine Human Rights Commission. In court documents, the commission argues that the policies “create a hostile educational environment for gender non-conforming students” and violate the Maine Human Rights Act.

The five districts named in the commission’s initial lawsuit in November are Maine School Administrative District 70 in Hodgdon, Regional School Unit 24 in Sullivan, RSU 73 in Livermore Falls, and the Baileyville and Richmond school districts. MSAD 52 in Turner was added as a defendant in December, while East Grand School in Danforth was added in January.

In a separate case, the U.S. Department of Justice is suing the state over its policy allowing transgender girls to compete in girls sports. Additionally, a group of Maine Republicans and activists is gathering signatures for a ballot initiative that would change state law to align with the Trump administration’s order.

WINTHROP

The Winthrop School Committee voted unanimously at its meeting Wednesday to direct the superintendent and the district’s policy committee to draft a change to be presented to the school committee at its May 6 meeting.

Committee member Timothy Wess proposed the order at Wednesday’s meeting. At a meeting on Feb. 25, the committee discussed its current policies and a potential change.

“I don’t want a biological boy in a biological girl’s class bathroom or locker room,” Wess said at the February meeting. “I just think it’s unsafe and it’s emotional abuse to biological girls.”

Wess also said that allowing students to compete in sports that don’t align with their sex is “completely unfair.” However, Wess also emphasized that the district must protect transgender students from bullying, and believes transgender students should be provided a separate space to use the bathroom and change.

“They should have those protections, but we’ve got to protect those girls,” he said. “I know a lot of high school girls do not want to go into a bathroom and find a boy in there that they’ve known as a boy their whole career in school.”

Libby Wright, a fellow committee member, pushed back at that Feb. 25 meeting. She cited a Maine CDC survey that indicates about 4% of students in Maine are transgender.

“I think rhetoric that implies that transgender students are a threat is very concerning,” Wright said. “What evidence is there to be concerned or make it seem like they’re a threat or a predator? We’re talking about children.”

Superintendent Becky Foley noted that several school districts have been sued over such policy changes and that the district’s insurance provider caps coverage of legal defense costs at $250,000. She also said that she is unaware of any transgender student-athletes in the district.

At the meeting on Wednesday, some district leaders expressed caution. Foley again noted the ongoing lawsuit.

“I just feel like this is kind of opening ourselves up and putting a target (on our backs),” Foley said. “I guess I’m not sure the problem we’re trying to solve right now.”

Athletic Director Joel Stoneton highlighted the guidelines provided by the Maine Principals’ Association, which governs interscholastic sports.

“It is Title IX, but you’re still asking us to do something against what state law is,” Stoneton said. “It’s very clear in the MPA handbook, as an athletic director, the route I’m supposed to follow, which is that I have to follow the state law.”

Wess argued that the district is violating federal law if they don’t change anything.

Town Council Vice-Chair Aaron White expressed concern over Wess’ proposal in a lengthy social media statement last week, in which he also critiqued matters related to the committee’s ongoing school budget process.

“The manner in which this motion was introduced — without prior notice on the agenda, without preparation from the superintendent, and contrary to legal advice — undermines public trust and bypasses the transparent processes designed to guide district policy development,” White said in his post. “It also potentially jeopardizes state funding and exposes the district to unnecessary litigation risk.”

White also requested that the school committee attend the council’s meeting next week “to explain their actions” on the Title IX policy and the budget.

In an email to the Press Herald on Monday, White shared a letter signed by him and Town Council Chair Jim Steele formally requesting that school committee members attend the council’s March 16 meeting. However, the letter does not reference the Title IX policies and focuses on items regarding the budget.

Wess and Foley could not be reached for comment on Monday afternoon.