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When the federal education department announced in March that Jeffco Public Schools had in its view run afoul of anti-discrimination law, it cited one key piece of evidence: rosters indicating 61 boys were on girls’ sports teams.
In a letter to the community this week, Colorado’s second largest school district said no boys were competing on those teams — and offered an explanation.
“Some teams had male managers, trainers, or mascots — not athletes,” the letter said.
“Because the [U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights] never asked us to clarify the role of any individual listed on those rosters, we did not learn of this confusion until the OCR issued a press release. Since that moment, we have repeatedly and respectfully asked the OCR to address this factual error. They have declined to do so.”
The U.S. Department of Education declined to comment for this story.
The federal Office for Civil Rights is meant to ensure equal access to education by enforcing laws that prohibit discrimination. But under President Donald Trump, the office has used the federal Title IX law to target school district policies that protect transgender students.
Jeffco has been in a back-and-forth with the federal office for a year.
Last June, the office launched an investigation into Jeffco’s policy on sleeping arrangements for transgender students on overnight school trips. The policy says transgender students should share rooms with peers who match their gender identity. A family had sued the district after their 11-year-old daughter was assigned to share a bed with a transgender student.
The federal office eventually found that several of Jeffco’s policies — including those on overnight accommodations, bathroom use, and sports participation — violated Title IX.
At first, the office said Jeffco athletic rosters indicated “that male students occupy 61 roster positions on girls’ sports teams.” A later version of the press release posted on the federal education department’s website walked back that language by adding the words “may” and “up to.”
The department has not answered questions from Chalkbeat about the change. Nor has it answered questions about how it made the determination about the 61 boys.
Last week, the federal office issued a warning letter to Jeffco threatening to pull the 74,000-student district’s federal funding if it doesn’t change its policies, saying the two sides are at an impasse.
In a statement, Jeffco disagreed about the impasse, noting that the district is still within the 90-day window that the office allows for good faith negotiations.
Jeffco has said from the start that it is following Colorado’s anti-discrimination law, which “directly contradicts” the Trump administration’s interpretation of Title IX, the district said.
“This places school districts in an impossible position,” the district wrote in its letter to the community, which was posted to its website Thursday. “We must navigate conflicting requirements with clear state law on one side and non-binding federal guidance on the other.”
Despite receiving an impasse letter, Jeffco said it has “not given up on dialogue” with federal officials to come to a resolution.
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.
Melanie Asmar 2026-06-12 22:12:54
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