Dysart schools' Governing Board publicly opposes new Title IX rules

The Governing Board of the Dysart Unified School District on Thursday unanimously approved a resolution opposing the Biden administration's new rules that expand protections for LGBTQ+ students, calling it "obtuse overreach" that criminalizes "innocent children" and "the people of the varying faiths that commonly and firmly believe in truth, such as a Creator of two distinct and wonderfully made sexes."

But the board's resolution did not change district policy, which appears aligned with the revised federal rules stemming from Title IX, the 1972 federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in educational programs that receive federal funding.

The Dysart board also spent nearly an hour on Thursday in a closed session receiving legal guidance about recent court rulings regarding Title IX rules that apply to complaints of sex discrimination and the "legal process for challenging those regulations."

The U.S. Department of Education issued new Title IX regulations in April. They are set to take effect on Aug. 1.

The changes included expanding the definition of sex-based discrimination to cover discrimination based on gender stereotypes, sexual orientation, gender identity and pregnancy.

Court orders are currently blocking the rules from going into effect in 14 states, not including Arizona.

On Thursday, Dysart's Governing Board President Dawn Densmore presented the resolution , took issue with the expanded definition of sex-based discrimination and claimed that the new rules are "contrary to the plain language of Title IX."

Densmore said the Biden administration's new rules "include guidance" on the use of pronouns inconsistent with a student or staff member's gender identity. She went on to say that the board believes the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution means that the district "cannot compel the speech of a student, employee, nor can we compel the religious or other deeply held beliefs of our students or employees that there are two sexes."

The federal Education Department responded to First Amendment concerns in its 1,577-page rule-making explanation , stating that "nothing in the regulations requires or authorizes a recipient to violate anyone's First Amendment rights."

To be covered by Title IX, the Education Department wrote, sex-based harassment must be "unwelcome, subjectively and objectively offensive, and sufficiently severe or pervasive to limit or deny a student's ability to participate in or benefit from a recipient's education program or activity." Verbal aggression, intimidation or hostility "based on the student's nonconformity with stereotypical notions of masculinity and femininity or gender identity" can constitute sex-based discrimination under Title IX in "certain circumstances," the department wrote.

In response to concerns about whether misgendering an individual would be a form of sex-based harassment under the new rules, the department wrote that "whether verbal conduct constitutes sex-based harassment is necessarily fact-specific," that the regulations don't identify all of the circumstances that could constitute sex-based harassment and that a "stray remark, such as a misuse of language" would not constitute harassment under Title IX standards.

The Governing Board initiated the resolution, drafted it and put it on the agenda, said district spokesperson Renee Ryon. It was approved with no discussion from the four board members.

The board also unanimously approved a 2024-25 student and parent handbook during Thursday's meeting. The handbook included a statement indicating that the district does not discriminate against any person based on their sex, including their sexual orientation or gender identity. That language was not in last year's handbook.

The district's policy on harassment, intimidation and bullying, which was approved by the board in April, also defines harassment to include unwelcome conduct on the basis of sex, which encompasses sexual orientation and gender identity.

Dysart Unified serves about 23,000 students pre-K through 12th grade in the northwest Valley, including parts of Glendale, Surprise, El Mirage and Youngtown, as well as unincorporated areas.

Reach the reporter at mparrish@arizonarepublic.com .

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Dysart schools' Governing Board publicly opposes new Title IX rules