LPSB Joins Lawsuit
The LaSalle Parish School Board met in special session Thursday afternoon, May 2, to pass a resolution to join the lawsuit against the Biden Administration’s changes to Title IX.
By a unanimous vote, the Board voted to “join the State of Louisiana in litigation against the United States Department of Education and other federal defendants to challenge the Final Rule.”
Superintendent Jon Garrett noted the Title IX changes will drastically affect LaSalle schools and said standing against the changes by joining the lawsuit must been done.
“By passing this resolution we add our name to the lawsuit that the State of Louisiana Attorney General has brought against the federal government,” Garrett said. “With the changes in Title IX, the federal government has overreached like they never have before. We join with the State of Louisiana to argue that this overreach violates state law, free speech of the students, increases the burdens of school districts like ours and it goes against the democratic will of the people.”
More information in next week’s newspaper.
See story from the 5-1-24 edition for more information on Title IX and the changes being made:
Biden Administration Re-Writes Title IX
Staff Report
President Joe Biden’s administration recently released new rules for Title IX – regulations originally designed to ensure equal access for women in public schools and sports.
According to The Danbury Institute (a coalition for life and liberty and defense for Judeo- Christian values), Biden’s re-write “flips Title IX on its head and erases protections for both men and women, boys and girls.”
Danbury notes that the new language now does the following: -Sex is now defined as “gender identity” -This means boys and men who “identify” as female will have access to locker rooms, dorms, bathrooms, and sports belonging to women and girls and that males can take scholarships meant for females.
The new Title IX rules also: -Infringe upon free speech rights for those who do not wish to use a person’s “preferred pronouns” -Eliminate due process for sexual misconduct claims, removing the ability to cross examine a witness and returning to the “single investigator model” “All considered, the new Title IX rules effectively dismantle protections for women and disrupt decades of progress in creating equal opportunity for females,” the institute writes. “This decision from the Biden Administration is profoundly: anti-woman, anti-truth, anti-science and anti- equality.”
“Christians, as people committed to truth, to God’s good design for human sexuality, gender, and identity, and to a biblical structure for justice should be vocal in opposing new Title IX rules that will endanger children, rob women of experiences, opportunity, and innocence, and subject young men to increased risk of false accusations,” Danbury concludes in its announcement exposing and opposing the Title IX changes.
The changes are scheduled to take affect August 1, 2024, and if not stopped in court, would affect all sports at all levels, including high school and lower grades.
Last week, school systems across Louisiana received a special letter from LA State Superintendent of Education Dr. Cade Brumley, informing districts of the new Title IX changes.
“Furthermore, these new Title IX rules could be in direct contradiction with Louisiana’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, a law that affirms school-sanctioned athletic participation must be divided by biological sex unless the configuration is co-ed in nature,” Brumley wrote.
“These new rules have been in development for nearly two years, and I have previously submitted comments in staunch opposition as it alters the long-standing definition that has created fairness and equal access to opportunity for women and men,” he continued. “At this time, my opposition to these new Title IX rules remain unchanged. The Title IX rule changes recklessly endanger students and seek to dismantle equal opportunities for females.”
“Presently, my office is working with the Office of the Governor and our Attorney General to review the 1500-pages of new rules and determine their overall impact. It is inevitable that there will be a legal challenge to the new rules, contesting the unprecedented unilateral expansion of the long-standing prohibition against discrimination based on ‘sex’ and to include ‘sex stereotypes, sex related characterizes (including intersex traits) pregnancy or related condition, sexual orientation and gender identity.’ This expanded definition is unsupported by the rest of Title IX, its implementing regulations and the law’s extensive congressional history and record of debate and deliberation. This rule runs contradictory to the entire foundation of Title IX.”
Brumley recommended school systems to contact their legal counsel on this matter but ended the letter by stating: “…it remains my position that schools should not alter policies or procedures at this time.”
Many officials, including the LaSalle Parish legislative delegation, noted that Louisiana will fight the new Title IX rules with the full extent of the legal system. (At press time Monday, April 29, Louisiana joined other states in filing a lawsuit to reverse Biden’s changes.)
