Oshkosh School Board Title IX decision could lose district millions

The Oshkosh Area School District Board discussed updates to Title IX regulations at the regular board meeting Wednesday.

• The new regulations include gender identity, sexual presentation and pregnancy in the definition of sex-based discrimination.
• The discussion was a continuation of the July 10 board meeting, when the board voted not to adopt the amendments
• The board may decide to move the amendments to committee, then they could eventually vote again on adopting the amendments.

Attorney for the board, Mark Kapocious, explained the new regulations to the board in detail, as well as where OASD stands currently with it’s regulations.

Kapocious said that the district is already implementing parts of the amendments, whether or not they vote yes to the new regulations.

The 2017 Whitaker v. Kenosha Unified School District was a Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision that ruled transgender students have protection from discrimination in schools.

OASD's current regulations reflect the Witaker v. Kenosha decision, but are still not technically in compliance with the new Title IX regulations.

In addition to including gender identity and sexual orientation in the definition of sex-based discrimination, the new regulations ask for further staff training and implementation of the rules on certain off-site school activities, like field trips.

On July 10, the school board voted not to adopt the regulations in a 3-3 tie vote.

Without adopting the exact language, definitions and training outlines in the Title IX amendments, the district could lose $5.5 million in federal funding.

Executive director of business services, Drew Niehans, told the board Wednesday that the loss could be higher- closer to 8-9% of the districts revenue.

Although, Kapocious said they shouldn’t be worried, as he said he does not know of any situations where funds linked to Title IX compliance have been taken away.

“The liklihood of having federal funds withdrawn is small,” he said.

The board felt the need to discuss the Title IX regulations once again because of new uptades at the federal level.

In the case of State of Kansas v. United States Department of Education, the court ruled on July 2 that the Department of Education could not enforce the new regulations in the plaintiff states or at any schools where children with parents in the plaintiff organizations attend.

The plaintiff organizations listed are Moms for Liberty, Young America’s Foundation and Female Athletes United.

Within OASD, three schools are included in this category and therefor can not be asked to enforce the regulations: Carl Traeger Elementary School, Carl Traeger Middle School and Oshkosh West High School.

There was not a vote at Wednesday’s meeting, but members of the community showed up arguing for and against including gender identity and sexual presentation in the new regulations.

Kora Novy is the director of Oshkosh Pride, and she said adopting the regulations makes school easier for all kids.

“Our youth have enough to contend with, without being a political punching bag for sexual orientation sex characteristics gender identity,” she said prior to the meeting on Wednesday.

Laura Ackmann is the Winnebago chapter chair for Moms for Liberty, a national conservative political group.

Ackmann does not live in Oshkosh, but she wanted to speak on behalf of Oshkosh members of Moms for Liberty.

“What we’re very concerned about is that they’re rewriting what Title IX was supposed to protect, and in the regulations we actually believe that its going to harm the girls,” Ackmann said after the meeting.

The board discussed the possibility of sending the issue back to the governing and policy committee in the future, where it could lead to another vote. Since the seventh board member, Molly Smiltneek, is now signed in, the vote could not end in a tie.