The U.S. Department of Education has opened a civil rights investigation into the Camas School District following allegations that a male student competed on a girls’ sports team, shared intimate facilities with female athletes, and sexually harassed girls during a school trip.
The department’s Office for Civil Rights will determine whether the District is in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and also examine whether district officials failed to respond appropriately after receiving complaints about the alleged harassment.
In October 2026, concerned parents and members of the Camas High School girls’ cross-country team alleged that a male student was allowed to compete alongside female athletes. The male athlete also allegedly entered a hotel room shared by three female athletes and took an ice bath in their bathroom and sexually harassed female athletes while traveling for an invitational meet–actions that, according to the Dept. of Education, “raised grave concerns about the female athletes’ privacy and personal safety.”
Parents also reported that the District failed to respond appropriately to their concerns about the alleged sexual harassment. They further allege that the school’s independent investigator asked the girls if they were “transphobic” and if they “hate trans people.”
According to Clark County Today, the allegations stemmed from the team’s October 9–10 trip to Arlington for the Nike Hole in the Wall XC Invitational at Lakewood High School.
The investigation follows Washington voters’ approval of I-638, the initiative prohibiting male students from competing in school athletic activities designated for girls. On Tuesday, the ACLU of Washington, Legal Voice, and Pacifica Law Group filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Washington Education Association, TransFamilies, and parents, seeking to overturn I-638 and block its enforcement. The initiative is scheduled to take effect December 3. Voters in Arizona, Colorado, and Nebraska passed similar measures.
“The voters in Washington stood up for women and girls in their state – and the Trump Administration stands with them as we continue to fight for safe and fair athletic opportunities across the country,” said Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey. “Washingtonians sent a message: they are done with men in women’s sports and want to keep young women safe. Camas School District should follow suit.”
The investigation follows weeks of controversy surrounding a male Camas runner who began the season competing against boys before switching to girls’ races. He finished 76th in a boys’ junior-varsity race at the September 5 Ultimook meet. After switching divisions, he finished second among 195 runners in a girls’ JV race at Nike Portland on September 26, then won the September 29 girls’ varsity race, finishing ahead of 45 female runners.
Female athletes protested his participation. Nearly half of Camas’s girls’ team walked away from the starting line on October 13. Two Skyview runners had staged a protest earlier in September. On October 21, a Battle Ground sophomore walked off alone in protest at the district championship, ending her postseason. The boy finished second in that race, placing the Skyview runners at third and fourth instead of second and third.
The boy then finished seventh in the October 31 girls’ Westside Classic regional race in 18:49.5, helping Camas finish fourth and qualify for state. That time would have placed him 115th in the boys’ 4A race, behind all seven Camas boys. A recalculation removing his result, keeping every other finish unchanged and adding no replacement runner, dropped Camas to eighth and moved Puyallup into seventh—the final team-qualification position. Five additional Puyallup girls would have advanced to state.
Camas joins several other Washington school districts subjected to federal Title IX investigations over girls’ sports. The Education Department announced investigations into Cheney, Sultan, Tacoma and Vancouver in January 2026. Those districts were among 18 educational entities across 10 states investigated over policies permitting athletic participation based on gender identity rather than biological sex.
Federal officials also opened a Title IX investigation into Tumwater in February 2025, amid allegations that a female basketball player faced a district investigation after refusing to compete against a male athlete.
OCR will investigate whether Camas violated Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance.
President Donald Trump’s February 2025 executive order on women’s sports directed federal agencies to take action against educational programs that deny female athletes equal opportunities. The Education Department said it resumed enforcing the 2020 Title IX regulations after a federal court vacated the Biden administration’s rewrite and formally reinstated the earlier regulations in October 2026.
Title IX is enforced by the Department’s OCR and prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance. A Title IX violation can ultimately result in the termination of federal education funding.
This report was first published by KVI AM 570 Radio in Seattle.
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