On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Education said that Denver Public Schools (DPS) broke Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prevents sex-based discrimination in education, by designating all-gender bathrooms.

Department officials said that students are still allowed to choose the bathroom or locker room that corresponds with their gender identity, not their biological sex.

The probe by the department’s Office for Civil Rights was opened in January, looking into East High School, after the district remodeled a girls’ bathroom into an all-gender bathroom, a decision officials said went against federal guidelines.

The district had re-designated a girl’s bathroom as an all-gender bathroom. Another bathroom on the same floor of the building was left as a restroom for boys only.

District officials said that the decision to re-designate the bathroom was student-led and also stated that the new all-gender bathrooms have 12-foot-tall partitions around the toilet stalls to ensure privacy and security.

Federal officials, however, found that the decision violated Title IX regulations, finding that it did not treat all students equally.

“The District’s decision to convert a sex-segregated restroom designated for girls in East High School to an ‘all-gender’ facility and to allow students to use East High School’s intimate facilities on the basis of their gender identity rather than their biological sex denied students equal access to the school’s restrooms and created a hostile environment,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Craig Trainor, said in a statement.

The district later added a second all-gender bathroom on the same floor to remedy fairness concerns.

District officials, though, have said that students can still use traditional male and female bathrooms and that the district still has single stall, all-gender restrooms on the school floor and across the school in general.

Federal Government Releases Resolution Plan

The Department of Education sent the Denver Public Schools a draft resolution with four conditions that the district will need to meet in 10 days in order to avoid federal enforcement.

In the proposal, the department said that in order to be in compliance with Title IX, the district will need to:

Re-designate all all-gender multi-stall restrooms as sex-specific bathrooms.

Remove all policies or practices that allow students to access bathrooms on the basis of gender identity and not biological sex.

Define “male” and “female” in “biology-based definitions” across all policies and practices relating to Title IX.

Send a memorandum to all schools that bathrooms and changing facilities “protect the privacy, dignity, and safety of students and are comparable in their accessibility to both sexes.”

The district now has 10 days to either accept or reject the resolution. The department said if the district rejects or does not comply with the proposal, it will begin enforcement procedures, which could mean stripping the district of federal funding.

Federal Officials Say Decision Harms Student Safety, Privacy

Federal officials said in a statement that the district’s decision to re-designate the girl’s bathroom to an all-gender bathroom “endangered student safety, privacy, and dignity.”

“Denver Public Schools violated Title IX and its implementing regulations by converting a sex-segregated restroom designated for girls in East High School to an ‘all-gender’ facility and by allowing students to use the high school’s intimate facilities on the basis of their gender identity rather than their biological sex,” Trainor added.

“Denver is free to endorse a self-defeating gender ideology, but it is not free to accept federal taxpayer funds and harm its students in violation of Title IX,” he continued. “The Trump Administration will work relentlessly to hold accountable school districts that harbor the ideological fanatics and policies that sully students’ educational experience with sex discrimination.”

District Says Decision Came from Student-Led Process

The district has since defended its decision, saying that the policy changes were from a student-led process.

District officials said that the district has created the all-gender bathrooms to meet their students’ needs while also keeping privacy and safety in place.

Denver Public Schools has yet to comment publicly on the department’s recent findings, but the district has previously said that students still have a choice when it comes to bathrooms with single-stall restrooms for anyone who needs additional privacy.

Broader Debate over Bathroom Use by Gender Identity

The fight in Denver is just the latest battle in a national debate over bathroom use and gender identity.

In February, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that will bar transgender girls from joining sports teams that do not match their biological sex.

Republican lawmakers have also introduced legislation that would limit transgender students from using bathrooms or sports teams that match their gender identity.

The Education Department has been involved with several cases involving gender policy decisions in both K-12 schools and universities. Just this week, the department said that George Mason University’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices broke federal law and Title VI.

What’s Next

Denver Public Schools now has a decision to make: it can either reject the federal resolution and be at risk of enforcement or comply with the Education Department and re-designate the all-gender bathroom back to sex-specific bathrooms.

The district has until in 10 days to respond to the Education Department’s resolution and will then have to make a decision whether or not to revert its all-gender bathroom policy.