Here & Now

Watertown Adopts More Restrictive Transgender Student Rules

Frederica Freyberg:
In Watertown, emotions ran high at the Board of Education meeting on Monday as a controversial decision was made regarding transgender students. “Here & Now” reporter Aditi Debnath was there and has the details.

Aditi Debnath:
It was a packed house at Riverside Middle School Monday, as the Watertown School Board voted on a new gender support plan that significantly changes policies for transgender students. The meeting drew hundreds of attendees, with the cafeteria and a secondary overflow room filled to capacity. Many in the audience held signs reading “Vote C” urging the board to adopt the more restrictive option C plan and that’s exactly what they did. Board President David Schroeder explained the decision.

David Schroeder:
My goal is to protect the district and to protect the kids.

Aditi Debnath:
The new plan requires students to use bathrooms and participate in sports based on their gender assigned at birth. Board member Tina Johnson was the only member to vote against plan C, praising current policies that defer to the student’s preferences.

Tina Johnson:
The administration and staff have done a great job in working with all students. They’ve done a great job with the transgender guideline, and I will continue to support them.

Aditi Debnath:
Gender support plans, which can be more restrictive, like the one passed or more inclusive, are not new to Wisconsin schools. Abigail Swetz is executive director of Fair Wisconsin, an LGBTQ+ civil rights organization.

Abigail Swetz:
And the best practices in a gender support plan, which many districts do have, is to ensure the safety of the child by working with the kid to figure out how to best talk to parents and then bring them into conversations.

Aditi Debnath:
The Watertown School District’s previous policy, which had been in place for eight years, allowed transgender students more flexibility with options to use unisex restrooms or separate locker room schedules. One Watertown student argues the majority of her peers aren’t concerned about gender politics.

Watertown High School student:
As a student in Watertown High School, I can say with full pride that I have met very few students who are bothered by transgender students.
Aditi Debnath:
Supporters of the plan point to safety concerns.

Gene Schmidt:
When you start putting men in women’s/girls’ bathrooms that are biologically male, you’re going to have more than one lawsuit.

Aditi Debnath:
Mollie McQuillan is a social scientist at the UW-Madison School of Education. She questions the legal validity of the policy.

Mollie McQuillan:
I think that there’s a lot of confusion among school boards and certainly among superintendents and principals and teachers about what the law actually is.

Aditi Debnath:
She says that policies like Plan C aren’t legally binding due to a federal law called Title IX.

Mollie McQuillan:
Title IX, broadly speaking, is to prevent discrimination based on sex.

Aditi Debnath:
McQuillan says that two different Title IX Circuit Court of Appeals decisions in 2017 and 2023 found that school policies that restrict which bathroom a student can use are not enforceable. Board President Schroeder acknowledges that this could change after President-elect Trump takes office in January.

David Schroeder:
Whatever you think about the law today, in two months, it’s likely going to change.

Aditi Debnath:
Any change made to Title IX would take time to work its way through the political process but gender politics are front of mind for the new administration.

Donald Trump:
I will ask Congress to pass a bill establishing that the only genders recognized by the United States government are male and female, and they are assigned at birth. The bill will also make clear that Title IX prohibits men from participating in women’s sports.

Aditi Debnath:
Swetz says that the change in administration only means there’s more work for civil rights advocates to do.

Abigail Swetz:
It is true that Title IX protects LGBTQ+ students and staff. We have civil rights, and no matter who occupies the White House, and our organizations are here to make sure those rights are respected.

Aditi Debnath:
Back in Watertown, it’s now up to the superintendent and district staff to decide how to enforce the policy moving forward. Reporting from Watertown, I’m Aditi Debnath for “Here & Now.”