Just months after Katy Independent School District trustees adopted a pro-parent gender policy, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has opened an investigation.
In August, the Katy ISD board of trustees adopted a policy that focuses on allowing parents full authority over their child’s health and well-being, separating locker rooms and restrooms by biological sex, and ensuring pronouns are used based on the child’s biological sex. The policy also adds that faculty and staff are prohibited from teaching or providing instructional materials on gender ideology in classrooms.
While the board members were discussing the item, many sexual preference and gender ideology activists came out to condemn the board for even considering the policy. Many resorted to calling the board members “bigoted” and “hateful.” Despite the insults, the board approved the policy in a 4-3 vote.
On Monday, the DOE officially opened an investigation to determine if the policy discriminates against gender-confused students.
President of the Katy ISD Board of Trustees Victor Perez told Texas Scorecard that the enactment of the pro-parent policy has gone smoothly, the district has implemented it professionally, and they are committed to cooperating with any requests the DOE has.
“We’ve received the OCR letters, and we are committed to providing equal educational opportunity for all students,” said Perez. “We don’t acknowledge any wrongdoing, but we remain fully cooperative with any requests related to this.”
The DOE’s Office for Civil Rights enforces the federal Title IX law, designed to prohibit sex-based discrimination in education. However, the Biden administration recently rewrote the rules associated with the law to include “gender identity” as a protected class.
The Texas Attorney General’s office sued the Biden administration last month to block enforcement of the new rules, which are set to take effect August 1.
Brady Gray, president of Texas Family Project, told Texas Scorecard that the federal investigation is another example of Democrats going after conservatives.
“The Katy ISD board did the right thing by ensuring parents were informed about issues concerning their kids and setting policy that protects kids from radical gender ideology,” said Gray.
“The response to this local example of good leadership by the Department of Education is yet another example of Democrats weaponizing the government against conservatives and further enforces the need to abolish the Department of Education entirely,” said Gray.
“I trust the Katy ISD Board will stand their ground and not cave to the scare tactics of federal officials,” he added.
