What's Future Of D211's Transgender Policy After Graduations?

PALATINE, IL — While the school year might officially be in the books for the Palatine-based Township High School District 211, legal fights challenging locker room and bathroom access for the school system's transgender students are far from over. District 211 schools have been the backdrop for the groundbreaking lawsuits that have garnered national attention concerning transgender students rights vs. students' right to privacy.

Last month, Nova Maday graduated from Palatine High School. She sued District 211 in November, alleging that the school system forced her to use a private changing stall when using the girls' locker room. A Cook County judge denied her request for a preliminary injunction in January, and she had been appealing that ruling since then.

But Maday's graduation hasn't eliminated the larger issues surrounding her case, issues that still make it a legal battle the Illinois chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union believes is worth fighting. And they're not the only stakeholders in this judicial jousting match that stretches as far back as 2015 and involves parents, as well as students.

Here's a look at the history of legal challenges against the district and what could come next.

The Legal Action So Far

Late 2013: A transgender student at Fremd High School — identified only as Student A in court documents — filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights against District 211, claiming the school system violated federal Title IX gender-based discrimination laws by not allowing unrestricted access to the girls' locker room.

November 2015: Following a two-year investigation, the OCR under President Barack Obama's administration ruled that District 211 had not complied with federal Title IX guidelines in Student A's case. Under Title IX, schools are required to provide transgender students full access to the locker room they identify with.

At the time under the Obama administration, Title IX violations mean districts could lose federal funding for at-risk students and face federal litigation

December 2015: The Education Department and District 211 reach a settlement concerning Student A and the school system's policy concerning transgender students. By a 5-2 margin, the school board voted to provide a separate changing area in the girls' locker room for Student A. Although the decision complies with Title IX guidelines, it goes against Student A's request for full access.

May 2016: More than 50 Palatine-area families represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, an Arizona-based conservative Christian group sues District 211, as well as the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education under the Obama administration. The complaint argues that the Education Department inaccurately interprets and illegally redefines federal law under Title IX and disregards the privacy and safety of other students.

Following the lawsuit by the families, the ACLU filed a motion on behalf of Student A and two transgender students from District 211 feeder schools to intervene and fight the lawsuit against the school system. At the time, Student A was attending gym class in street clothes and no longer changing in Fremd's girls' locker room because of the attention from the legal actions.

June 2016: An open letter by 29 District 211 parents and students is published to encourage open access for students to all school bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.

May 2017: Student A graduates from Fremd. Later in December 2017, Maday, then 18, files her lawsuit against the district, claiming she was not given access to the girls' locker room at Palatine and was required to change in a nurse's office or other area.

More Coverage on Patch:

• Palatine Transgender Student To Appeal Locker Room Access Ruling
  
• Transgender Girl Denied Unrestricted Locker Room Access By Court
  
• Transgender Student Sues District 211 For Locker Room Access
• 'Student A' Enters Current Legal Fray Over D211 Transgender Policy
• ACLU to File Motion to Derail Lawsuit Over D211's Transgender Locker Room Policy
• 51 Families Sue Palatine District 211 Over Transgender Student's Locker Room Use
• District 211 Reaches Settlement With Feds in Transgender Case
• District 211: Transgender Student Not Allowed Open Access to Locker Room

January 2018: A federal judge denies the ADF's preliminary injunction against the district that would have prevented transgender students from using the locker rooms and bathrooms of the genders they identify with while the case made its way through the courts.

Later in the month, a Cook County judge denies Maday's request for an injunction against the district for not allowing her full access to the girls' locker room at the Palatine High School.

February 2018: Maday appeals the judge's decision to deny the injunction.

What's Next

Even though she is no longer a student at Palatine and despite a judge denying her request for an injunction, Maday has no intention of dropping her lawsuit, ACLU spokesman Ed Yohnka told the Daily Herald. Maday is still seeking damages from the district for denying her locker room access, the report added.

But D211 Supt. Dan Cates has contended that Maday was allowed access the locker room so long as she used a changing stall, which she declined to do, according to the Herald. The Illinois Department of Human Rights also did not find believe the school system discriminated against Maday, Cates told the Herald.

The Alliance Defending Freedom also is proceeding with its lawsuit challenging the district's policy. But after the election of President Donald Trump and his administration's reversal of Obama-era Title IX policies concerning transgender students, the ADF suit no longer names the DOE or DOJ.

While the parties represented in these lawsuits have fundamental disagreements about the district's policy, both sides agree that the scope of their legal actions reaches past individual students and presidential administrations. Gary McCaleb, lead attorney in the ADF's suit, told the Herald last year that the issues presented in his case could crop up again for future district students.

And while Maday wishes she didn't have to be one of the challengers to how the school system handles locker room access for transgender teens, she knows her fight now could eliminate the need for future legal battles.

"I personally know a lot of students who would benefit," she told the Herald.

More via the Daily Herald

Image via Township School District 211