Trump administration investigating Portland schools over transgender athlete

The Education Department is investigating Oregon’s largest school district and the state’s governing body for high school sports for allowing a transgender student to participate in girls’ track and field competitions, the department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced Tuesday. 

In letters sent this week to Kimberlee Armstrong, superintendent of Portland Public Schools, and the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA), the department alleged both entities violated Title IX, the federal law against sex discrimination, by permitting one transgender teenager to compete against and alongside non-transgender girls and access the girls’ locker room. 

OCR said it opened the inquiries in response to a complaint filed with the department and “credible public reporting” that Leodis V. McDaniel High School in Portland allowed a trans student to race on its girls’ track team the last two seasons. 

The student, according to OCR, easily won the girls’ 200-meter and 400-meter dashes at this and last year’s Portland Interscholastic League Championship. 

The department’s investigations into the school district and sports association are the latest in a string of probes the department has opened since President Trump signed an executive order to ban transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports. 

“We are putting every school receiving taxpayer dollars on notice: If you let men take over women’s sports teams or invade your locker rooms, you will be investigated for violations of Title IX and risk your federal funding,” Trump said at the order’s signing ceremony in February. 

In an emailed statement, Armstrong, the school district’s superintendent, said she is aware of the OCR complaint and the district “is fully cooperating with the investigation.” 

“I stand firm in our legal responsibilities, and I deeply value every student’s right to be treated with dignity, safety, and respect,” Armstrong said, adding that the district “is in full compliance with Oregon state law, which may differ from federal guidance.” 

“We are actively working with our legal and state partners to navigate this complex legal landscape,” she continued. “While I am limited in what I can share at this time due to the sensitive nature of the matter and our duty to protect student privacy, I want to be clear: my commitment — and our district’s commitment — to doing what’s right for all students, especially those most vulnerable, remains unwavering.” 

Oregon state law prohibits discrimination based on gender identity, meaning schools cannot categorically exclude transgender students from participating in interscholastic activities, according to the state’s Education Department. 

“Questions about individual sports eligibility or protocols should be directed to the applicable governing association,” reads a portion of the department’s guidance for supporting gender-expansive students. 

The OSAA, representing nearly 200 Oregon cities and communities, has since 2019 allowed transgender student-athletes to compete on teams that match their gender identity. The organization developed the policy with education officials.

An OSAA spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment on the U.S. Department of Education's investigation. 

“We will not allow the Portland Public Schools District or any other educational entity that receives federal funds to trample on the antidiscrimination protections that women and girls are guaranteed under law,” said Craig Trainor, the Education Department’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights. 

“President Trump and Secretary [Linda McMahon] have been steadfast in their commitment to protect the rights of women and girls,” Trainor said in a statement. “OCR will use every lawful means to ensure that no female athlete is denied equal athletic opportunities or robbed of her rightful accolades.” 

The department’s investigations into the Oregon school district and the sports body come roughly a week after President Trump signed an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, a longtime target of conservatives. 

The order, which claims the department “has plainly failed” students and educators, recognizes it will take an act of Congress to fully shutter the agency. The White House said earlier this month that the department will retain “critical functions” mandated by Congress, like funding programs for students with disabilities. 

An Education Department spokesperson did not answer questions about whether there are contingency plans in place for open Title IX investigations in the case of the department’s dissolution. Recently, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) began opening Title IX investigations into schools and states that allow transgender athletes to compete on girls’ and women’s school sports teams, part of a new initiative within the department’s Office on Women’s Health. 

Last week, federal investigators found Maine had violated Title IX by permitting trans student-athletes to compete on teams that best align with their gender identity rather than their birth sex. 

The University of Maine System said Friday that the administration found its seven universities to be in compliance with state and federal laws, as well as a new NCAA policy barring transgender athletes from women’s college sports.

NCAA President Charlie Baker previously testified before Congress that fewer than 10 transgender athletes are competing at the association's member schools nationwide.