Powell School District Vows To Push Legislature For Separate Bathrooms Law

The board of a school district in Powell, Wyoming, committed Tuesday to lobby state legislators for a law that could prevent male transgender students from using girls’ bathrooms.

The passage of the Park County School District 1 resolution on student restroom use came during a Tuesday-evening board meeting in which members of the public and at least two state legislators packed the room.

Committing to lobby the state Legislature for “clarification” on keeping males in boys’ bathrooms and females in girls’ bathrooms is better than drafting a standalone policy to that end, Jay Curtis, PCSD1 Superintendent told attendees. That’s because the legal landscape on the issue is uncertain right now, and with just its own policy, the district may have to defend itself alone, Curtis’ comments and the resolution both indicate.

“Our attorney has advised us we shouldn’t have a policy on this,” said Curtis, according to a partial recording of the meeting given Tuesday to Cowboy State Daily. The recording features Curtis’ testimony and the board’s vote of six in favor, one abstaining. But it doesn’t include public comment on the issue.

 “Obviously there are two sides to this, and I can see merits to both sides; it’s tough, its complex,” said Curtis. “We do love all the kids, we do want to support all the kids.”

The superintendent said conversations around this issue have been heated.

“Today, Mr. Chairman, I ask that we pass this resolution so that we as a district can move forward and help provide clarity to this situation in Wyoming – (by calling) upon our Legislature,” said Curtis.

Muddy

Case law around this issue is “muddy” said Curtis.

Many federal appellate court circuits have upheld transgender students’ access to bathrooms that don’t match their biological sex. But the circuits aren’t unanimous, and the U.S. Supreme Court still has not taken a concrete stance on the issue.

Meanwhile, federal interpretation of educational anti-sex discrimination law Title IX varies with each presidential administration. President Joe Biden ordered his agencies to view blocking transgender access to some amenities as a Title IX violation, while President-elect Donald Trump has promised to reverse that approach, and ground the law’s application in a biological sex binary.

Oklahoma’s legislature in 2022 passed a law clarifying that boys’ bathrooms in public schools are “for the exclusive use of the male sex” and girls’ bathrooms are “for the exclusive use of the female sex.”

The law also provides “reasonable accommodation” to anyone who didn’t wish to comply with that, which would include access to a single-occupancy restroom or changing room.

Three transgender students challenged that law, lost their case in federal court, and have since appealed to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. The case is ongoing: the students filed their most recent argument brief in it Wednesday.

Wyoming also is situated within the 10th Circuit, so whatever the appeals court decides will bind or influence Wyoming judges as well. The case also may advance to the Supreme Court; which could issue a binding decision for the entire nation.

Why The Resolution?

A group for parents in the district announced Wednesday that there had been an issue of a male using the girls’ bathroom in one of the schools.

“Yes there has been a major issue of bathroom use and girls feeling extremely uncomfortable about using the bathroom,” PCSD1 Parents Group wrote in a Tuesday post to its public Facebook page.

A group representative told Cowboy State Daily in a later interview that the issue is at the high school. 

The post writer urged parents to attend the public meeting and support the resolution.

Neither Curtis nor board Chair Kim Dillivan responded to Cowboy State Daily messages requesting comment by publication time.

Curtis told the Powell Tribune in October, however, that the district does not have evidence suggesting that transgender students are using bathrooms that don’t align with their sex. 

“We know that there is at least one parent that has claimed it is (happening),” Curtis said, “but we have not had a single student come forward to the administration to say they are uncomfortable in the bathroom and that transgender students or biological males are entering the female bathrooms. 

“We have not had that, not once,” he said

Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.