Parents File Complaint After Daughters Punished for Refusing to Share Locker Room With Male Student

The parents of two Wisconsin high school students are seeking a federal investigation into an incident in which their daughters were forced to share a locker room with a biological male transgender student and then punished when they refused to change in front of him.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) has filed a Title IX complaint on behalf of the parents with the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi (DOJ) against Westosha Central High School for endangering the safety and privacy of multiple female students.

According to WILL, last December two female students at Westosha Central High School were surprised to find a male student in their locker room when they went to change for their P.E. class. 

The students notified an administrator that they felt "discomfort and embarrassment" but no action was taken, according to the parents. Instead, a gym teacher told the girls "not to worry about it" and said that not wanting him in the locker room was considered "bullying."

The girls then had to choose between changing in front of the male student, waiting for a private stall "that barely closes," or face academic penalties. 

On the days when they chose to wait for a stall, they received tardy notices. One of the girls received "multiple unexcused absences attempting to avoid the leering gaze of a male student in the locker room," WILL said in a federal civil rights complaint.

But the punishment did not stop there. 

When one student attempted to skip gym class to avoid changing in front of this male student, a teacher forced her to walk back to the locker room. 

"I was scared to say the reason I wasn't going (to gym class was) because (the teacher) kept yelling and saying he was gonna put us on the no pass list so I just said okay and walked in and now I'm scared to move because someone's gonna catch me," the girl wrote in a text message to her mother shared with National Review.

One of the students received an "F" in gym for her repeated absences because being in the locker room with a male contributed to "heightened anxiety." Her family chose to remove her from the district altogether. 

"Parents send their kids to school so they can learn in a safe environment, but that's not what happened here. My daughter was punished for standing up for her own privacy and safety. The district's misplaced priorities left us no choice but to leave the school," former Westosha parent, Nicholas Puchter, said in a statement.

Parents had reached out to Westosha principal Kevin Kitslaar voicing their concerns. 

In a December email, he wrote, "I am aware of the situation and working to find a resolution that is in the best interest of all students involved." 

However, days later, the school sent an email to all parents saying, "The district has investigated all comments, and no school safety concerns have been reported. In short, there is not and has not been a credible threat to the students and staff at our school."

A few weeks later, school district administrators notified parents, "The district has taken steps to ensure all students feel safe and comfortable in the locker rooms."

"The student is not using the locker room and will not be in the future. This began on January 2 and is in place for the future," District Administrator John Gendron said in January. "It was a district decision and will be our practice going forward with this student and any other students."

The district's decision is not a binding policy and WILL alleges school officials failed to take "meaningful action to accommodate, or even speak to, affected students, despite multiple parental and student complaints and reports."

Under Title IX, schools must "respond promptly and effectively" when they have knowledge of conduct that may constitute sex discrimination.

"When schools like Westosha force girls into an inadequate choice between exposing themselves to a male student or academic penalties, they abandon all common-sense and their core mission," said WILL Associate Counsel, Lauren Greuel.

"The law requires protections for girls to have the same educational opportunities as their male peers. The decision to punish these girls for protecting themselves must be promptly investigated by the Department of Education. We ask the department to consider the allegations in our complaint and quickly remedy these unlawful policies and practices," she continued. 

CBN News has reached out to the Wetosha Central High School district. At the time of publication, they had not responded to the request. 

***Please sign up for CBN Newsletters and download the CBN News app to ensure you keep receiving the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***