LEWES, Del. - The U.S. Department of Education has announced that it is rescinding agreements with five school districts across the country that required the districts to prevent discrimination on the basis of gender identity, including Cape Henlopen School District in Sussex County.
On Monday, April 6, the DOE said its Office for Civil Rights was reversing requirements implemented by previous administrations that the school districts “police” some instances of transgender discrimination under Title IX. The Trump Administration argues that Title IX protections are based on sex and not gender, therefore rendering these agreements void.
“Previous Administrations distorted the law contrary to its plain meaning to police discrimination on the basis of ‘gender identity,’ not sex, and imposed resolution agreements with no legal foundation, but rather, based on an ideologically-driven interpretation of Title IX,” the DOE’s statement reads. “They illegally saddled school districts with Title IX violations for actions such as ‘improper use of preferred pronouns’ or ‘asking questions about a student’s preferred ‘gender.’”
The DOE says the move is a reversal of previous administrations’ “radical transgender agenda,” saying the Biden Administration illegally expanded the scope of Title IX to include gender identity protections. A federal court ruled the expansion to be illegal in January of 2025, according to the DOE.
“Upon taking office in January 2025, the Trump Administration immediately returned to enforcing the Trump Administration’s 2020 Title IX rule, which properly safeguards against discrimination on the basis of sex,” the administration said.
"The Cape Henlopen School District has received correspondence from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights regarding the resolution agreement entered in March 2024," the Cape Henlopen School District said in a statement to WBOC on Tuesday. "As always, we are committed to providing a safe and supportive learning environment where all students can succeed. We will continue to work collaboratively to ensure our practices and programs support the well-being, growth, and achievement of every student in our District.”
In addition to the Cape Henlopen School District, the Title IX agreements were also reversed at four other districts in Pennsylvania, Washington, and California, as well as a California college.