Legal Update

July 29, 2024

What is in this Legal Update?

• Title IX Litigation and Injunction

Title IX Litigation and Injunction

This Legal Update concerns recent litigation surrounding the new Title IX regulations. Title IX prohibits sex-based discrimination in educational programs that receive federal funding. The United States Department of Education issued new regulations for Title IX in April 2024, with an implementation date of August 1, 2024. The most recent regulations were adopted in 2020.  

Twenty-six states, not including Colorado, have sued the Department of Education over the new regulations, particularly regarding protections for transgender youth. Judges have issued injunctions preventing the rules from going into effect in at least twenty-one of these states. Additionally, a judge for one of the lawsuits (with plaintiffs Kansas, Alaska, Utah, and Wyoming, and several organizations) recently issued an injunction that impacts Colorado, despite the fact that Colorado is not involved in the lawsuit. It prevents the US Department of Education from enforcing the new regulations against any school that has a parent who is a member of Moms for Liberty, or any school who has students who are members of the organizations Young America's Foundation or Female Athletes United – regardless of whether the state in which the school is located is a plaintiff in any litigation. This injunction impacts Colorado districts, as over eighty Colorado schools have students or parents that are members of one of these three organizations. The organizations were required to publish a list of the schools in each state that have members, and the injunction applies to the schools in the list. 

The ruling doesn’t clearly explain if impacted schools can still adopt the 2024 regulations, or if they should continue use of the 2020 regulations. One common interpretation of this ruling is that the Department of Education cannot enforce the new 2024 regulations against schools under the injunction, but impacted schools may still choose to adopt the new rules instead of the 2020 rules. However, a recent position statement from the Association of Title IX Administrators explains the risks in adopting the 2024 regulations, rather than continuing use of the 2020 regulations. ATIXA’s position is that schools under the injunction should not adopt the 2024 regulations, due to risk of lawsuit. CASB urges impacted schools and districts to consult legal counsel and determine the appropriate course of action.

Click here for the list of schools under the injunction. This list is published by the U.S. Department of Education and is updated whenever Moms for Liberty or Young America's Foundation and Female Athletes United file a new list of membership into the case. Here is the injunction. 

Please reach out to CASB’s legal team with any questions. 

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CASB’s legal resources are for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Specific questions should be referred to the school district’s legal counsel.

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The resources provided by CASB's member legal resources department are for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Specific questions should be referred to the district's or BOCES's own legal counsel.