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The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights announced Tuesday that it is investigating Denver Public Schools for recently converting a girls' restroom at Denver’s East High School into an all-gender restroom.
“The alarming report that the Denver Public Schools District denied female students a restroom comparable with their male counterparts appears to directly violate the civil rights of the District’s female students,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in a press release.
“Let me be clear: it is a new day in America, and under President Trump, OCR will not tolerate discrimination of any kind,” Trainor, among a wave of new additions to the department, said in the release. “I have directed OCR’s Denver regional office to investigate this matter fully.”
A Denver Public Schools spokesperson said Tuesday afternoon that the district had “not formally received the notice of investigation” from the Office for Civil Rights.
In a follow-up statement Tuesday evening, the district said it was “unprecedented for the Office for Civil Rights to admittedly initiate its own investigation, into a single bathroom, as a result of local media coverage rather than in response to a filed complaint requesting their involvement.
“DPS is committed to educational equity, and we will continue to honor the needs of our students,” the district’s statement said.
On the campaign trail, Trump pledged to get rid of the U.S. Department of Education. But the announcement of the investigation into Denver Public Schools shows the Trump administration now intends to use departmental power to advance another centerpiece of his successful candidacy: opposing transgender rights and inclusion of transgender people in public life.
In his first week in office, Trump rescinded Biden-era guidance about supporting LGBTQ students in schools and used his executive power to roll back protections for transgender people. That included issuing an executive order that says that the United States only recognizes two sexes: male and female.
In announcing the East High investigation, the education department released a letter from Trainor addressed to Denver Superintendent Alex Marrero and dated Tuesday that cites a January news story on the all-gender bathroom from local TV station 9News.
The 9News story says students at East High, Denver’s largest high school, requested the all-gender restroom, but that at least one East High parent had raised concerns at a Denver school board meeting.
Denver Public Schools spokesperson Scott Pribble told 9News that adding the all-gender restroom was a matter of convenience for students and that “there’s no agenda to it.”
“It was becoming a problem for kids that were trying to go to the bathroom during passing period,” Pribble told 9News. “They were running out of time, being late to the next class because the one or two single stall bathrooms that they had to accommodate this just wasn’t enough for the need that was out there.”
Pribble told 9News that it was easier to convert a girls’ restroom to an all-gender restroom because girls’ restrooms already have toilets that everyone can use.
East High posted an announcement about its new all-gender restroom on its website in early January. It notes that the “stalls are designed for privacy, with 12-foot-tall partitions to ensure comfort and security,” and says the school has “developed a plan to supervise, monitor, and maintain cleanliness, just as we do with all restrooms.”
Denver Public Schools said in its statement Tuesday evening that the all-gender restroom “was added as the result of a student-led process that reflects our commitment to inclusivity and student voice, leadership, and empowerment, providing a welcoming space for all.
“This restroom serves all students, including those who may feel uncomfortable in gender-specific facilities and aligns with our values of supporting every student,” the district said.
The statement notes that East High has designated restrooms for female and male students in addition to the all-gender restroom.
Other Denver schools have all-gender restrooms, too. The Denver school board passed a resolution in 2020 mandating that each school in Denver have at least one all-gender restroom.
But when the board switched to a new form of governance in 2021 that necessitated converting previous resolutions into new policies, the all-gender restroom resolution appears to have been left out. There is currently no Denver Public Schools policy mandating all-gender restrooms, though a district spokesperson said the district does still convert and install them.
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.
