Jeffco School district rejects federal threats, affirms rights of transgender students

Colorado’s second-largest school district has formally refused to roll back protections for transgender students after the Trump administration’s Department of Education (ED) threatened to cut off federal funding.

Jefferson County Public Schools (Jeffco) — serving roughly 75,000 students and 14,000 staff across 145 schools — was ordered last week to abandon policies that recognize students’ gender identities. The ED demanded that trans students be barred from restrooms, sports teams, overnight accommodations, and related programs consistent with their gender, claiming the policies violate Title IX by allegedly harming cisgender girls, according to CBS News.

The investigation began after Jeffco Kids First, an anti-LGBTQ+ “parents’ rights” group, filed a complaint asserting that 61 positions on girls’ sports rosters are held by students assigned male at birth and that some cisgender girls felt uneasy changing near a trans girl during an overnight trip.

Z Williams, a Jeffco parent, trans rights advocate, and co-director of the Bread and Roses Legal Center, questioned the accuracy of those claims and said the conflict is being driven by political motives rather than real problems.

“What the Department of Education is trying to use is trans children as a sort of flame igniter for a broader political issue that really doesn’t exist,” Williams told reporters.

The ED gave Jeffco 10 days to revoke its inclusive policies and issue a public statement committing to the administration’s restrictive definition of sex, or risk enforcement actions that could include loss of federal funds.

Jeffco declined to comply, arguing that the ED’s demands contradict both state law and settled local practice.

“Providing equal access to programs and services for all Jeffco students, including those who are transgender, does not violate Title IX,” the district wrote in its response. “The Department’s interpretation has no basis in the Title IX regulations and is not supported by any binding court decision. It conflicts with a recent U.S. District of Colorado decision which considered the same Jeffco policies. Prior federal administrations have taken the direct opposite view — that Title IX protects transgender students’ access to school programs and facilities.”

The district emphasized that its policies are consistent with the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, earlier federal Title IX guidance, and rules from the Colorado High School Activities Association. Since 2013, the Colorado Civil Rights Commission has interpreted state law to require districts to accommodate students based on gender identity.

Transgender journalist Erin Reed has noted that Jeffco was the first district in Colorado to adopt explicit protections for trans students. She also highlighted several state measures reinforcing these protections: S.B. 296, requiring schools to investigate anti-trans discrimination; H.B. 1039, mandating that staff use students’ chosen names; and the Kelly Loving Act, which allows students to follow dress codes regardless of gender.

Reed further reported that Denver Public Schools, five school districts in Virginia, and Chicago Public Schools have also refused to comply with similar federal threats without facing penalties. New York City Public Schools went a step further, suing after the ED withheld $47 million in magnet school funding over trans-inclusive policies.

Colorado voters are expected to decide on a statewide ban on trans participation in girls’ and women’s sports this November. As of early 2026, 27 states have enacted laws or regulations excluding trans girls and women from school sports teams aligned with their gender identity.