The state has been battling with the La Center School District over its pronoun policy for years
Jake Goldstein-Street
Washington State Standard
The Trump administration on Monday launched an investigation into the Washington office tasked with overseeing public schools, citing allegations that the state directed a school district to implement a gender inclusion policy that conflicts with federal law.
The investigation puts the 1,800-student La Center School District at the middle of the escalating battle between the U.S. Department of Education and the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction over approaches to inclusivity in schools.
The Department of Education alleges OSPI is violating the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment and Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools and education programs that receive federal funding.
An OSPI spokesperson called the Department of Education’s intervention a “potential overreach of the federal government’s authority.”
The probe is the latest development in a yearslong battle between the Clark County district and the state. The saga has consumed La Center to the point that a timeline of the conflict is posted on the district website’s landing page.
The clash is centered on a debate over preferred pronouns.
In 2022, district Superintendent Peter Rosenkranz ordered staff not to ask students about their pronouns. Rosenkranz told teachers they should still use students’ preferred pronouns if requested.
A teacher, who was also the adviser for the La Center High School Gay Straight Alliance, argued the policy “creates a systemic barrier towards full inclusivity of LGBTQ students.”
In late February of this year, the state found La Center violated state law related to discrimination based on gender identity. Its gender-inclusive policy also didn’t comply with statute, the state investigation determined.
Washington’s model policy, adopted in 2020, says school staff must “privately ask known transgender or gender-expansive students how they would like to be addressed in class, in correspondence to the home, and at conferences with the student’s parent/guardian.”
The district also differed with the state policy on communicating with parents of gender-expansive students, according to the OSPI investigation. The district’s policy tells staff to “be transparent with parents/guardians of children who question their gender identity so that the parents/guardians may provide appropriate support for their children.”
It also states that “curriculum, instruction, and gender affirming activities may cause gender confusion for children.”
In a school board meeting, a former La Center student shared how this policy affected them. They said district staff “forcibly outed” them to their family, leading to “physical abuse by a family member, significant disruption to their education, and a negative impact on their mental health,” according to the OSPI investigation.
The state’s report said La Center’s policy “does not address the unique challenges and needs faced by transgender students in public schools in a nondiscriminatory manner.”
Rising tensions
The state ordered La Center to rescind the pronoun directive and send a new proposed policy that complies with state law within 45 days. Within 35 days of approval, the district had to implement the policy.
OSPI also required training for staff on bias based on gender identity.
The district appealed the findings last month.
In an interview Monday, the La Center superintendent, Rosenkranz, said he was “very happy” to hear of the federal inquiry. He wants the district to be able to focus on academics, but said “OSPI is trying to bully the La Center School District into submission,” with threats to withhold federal funding if school officials don’t follow state law.
“We continue to move forward to support families as they raise their children,” Rosenkranz said. “The state is choosing to deny parents of that right.”
After reading a news story about the district’s battle with the state, Department of Education officials reached out to Rosenkranz to learn more, he said, leading to Monday’s investigation announcement.
OSPI spokesperson Katy Payne said in an email that the agency “will continue to steadfastly follow the laws of the state of Washington, which provide clear civil rights protections for our transgender and gender-expansive youth that fit squarely inside the protections provided under federal law.”
The U.S. Department of Education didn’t provide comment late Monday.
The inquiry significantly intensifies tensions between the state and federal government. Most of this conflict in the education sphere since President Donald Trump took office in January has focused on transgender athletes.
For example, the Kennewick School District in eastern Washington late last month filed a complaint with the feds over the state allowing trans athletes to participate in girls’ and women’s sports.
Also last month, the Department of Education launched an investigation into the Tumwater School District, near Olympia, for letting a transgender athlete from another school compete in a girls’ high school basketball game.
Washington is now also the latest state to face the education department’s ire. Federal officials have also launched investigations in California and Maine over alleged Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act violations.
In a letter last month, Education Secretary Linda McMahon told schools they must abide by the law “if they expect federal funding to continue.”
“Attempts by school officials to separate children from their parents, convince children to feel unsafe at home, or burden children with the weight of keeping secrets from their loved ones is a direct affront to the family unit,” McMahon wrote. “When such conduct violates the law the Department will take swift action.”
This report was first published by The Washington State Standard.
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