Locust Valley District Files Lawsuit Over Gender Bathroom Policy

LOCUST VALLEY, NY — The Locust Valley Central School District filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against New York State's Education Commissioner and other top state and federal officials over the transgender bathroom policy.

This lawsuit was filed on Dec. 17, the same day as Locust Valley BOE Trustee Lauren Themis resigned.

When asked for a comment on the lawsuit, the LVCSD BOE responded to Patch with a statement:

"As shared in our previous response to the Commissioner’s order prohibiting the enforcement of our October 15 Title IX resolution, the Board of Education continues to navigate the complex legal process related to the contradicting mandates from the New York State Education Department and the United States Department of Education.

Most importantly, we remain committed to providing students and staff with a safe and comfortable learning environment where they each feel valued and respected. Additionally, we seek to ensure our district is not at risk of losing either state or federal funding due to the clearly contradicting policies from each department. We look forward to providing our community with updates on this matter."

The Title IX resolution that mandated Locust Valley students use facilities that aligned with their biological sex was adopted on Oct. 15. This was until the NYS Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa issued a temporary block.

Rosa issued the order temporarily blocking the district from enforcing the policy that would require students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their biological sex, rather than their gender identity. LVCSD said in a letter to parents earlier this month that the district will follow the Commissioner's interpretation of state law, temporarily reversing its Oct. 15 Title IX resolution.

In the federal lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court's Eastern District, Locust Valley claimed they have been put in "an impossible position" by Rosa's Stay Order and that the order violates federal law.

In the court papers, the district said they are under threat of enforcement actions by either the federal government or the state government, "regardless of how they implement policies with respect to separation of males and females in intimate spaces, including bathrooms and locker rooms, and sports."

The papers stated that LVCSD would either have to "disobey the Commissioner's stay to comply with Title IX and subject themselves to enforcement action by New York State" or "violate Title IX to comply with the Commissioner's stay and subject themselves to enforcement by USDOE and DOJ education commissioner and other top state and federal officials."

LVCSD said that "the District must comply with Title IX, as it accepts federal funding." In the court papers, it continues that its resolution, implemented after school began on Sep. 2, to require all students to use school restrooms and locker rooms, as well as play sports, corresponding to their biological sex, while also providing all students access to gender-neutral facilities, follows federal law, including Title IX.

The papers also stated that Rosa's extension of the Stay Order has placed LVCSD "in a similar position as Massapequa UFSD."

Furthermore, the court papers stated that on or about Oct. 3, "Jane and John Doe, on behalf of their minor transgender daughter Janie Doe, filed a petition before Commissioner Rosa under 310 of the New York State Education Law... against an entirely different school district: the Massapequa Union Free School District. In that administrative proceeding, the Doe Petitioners claimed that the resolutions passed by Massapequa UFSD in September 2025 establish a bathroom policy consistent with Title IX are discriminatory under state law— namely, DASA and GENDA."