This post originally appeared at https://wisconsindailystar.com/the-upper-midwest/wisconsin-law-firm-files-civil-rights-complaint-against-sun-prairie-schools-over-transgender-shower-incident/mkittle/2023/06/15/

The Sun Prairie Area School District now faces a civil rights complaint following an incident earlier this year involving an 18-year-old biological male identifying as a woman who exposed his genitals to four freshman girls in a high school shower.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) filed the sex discrimination complaint Wednesday with the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights.

“WILL makes this complaint as an interested third-party organization with clients whose daughter was discriminated against on the basis of sex,” the filing states. “She is one of four freshman girls who were discriminated against due to district policy, as described in this complaint, and the policy in effect continues to harm all girls in the school district.”

As The Wisconsin Daily Star reported in April, WILL alleges the freshman girls participated in a swimming unit at Sun Prairie’s East High School on March 3. They entered the girls’ athletic locker room to shower and change for class when they noted a senior male student standing at one of the lockers. The complaint states that the student was 18 years old at the time of the incident and was not in the girls’ first-hour physical education class.

While the freshmen said they were surprised to see the senior in their locker room, “they had a general idea that this student identifies as transgender and has used girls’ bathrooms before,” according to the complaint.

The girls entered the shower area with their swimsuits on, which was their common practice as they rinsed off, according to WILL. As they began to shower, the male student approached them, entered the shower area, announced, “I’m trans, by the way,” and then undressed fully and showered completely naked right next to one of the girls.

“He was initially turned towards the wall but eventually turned and fully exposed his male genitalia to the four girls,” the complaint states. “Understandably, the girls were caught off guard and shocked, closed their eyes, and tried to hurry up and leave the showers as quickly as possible.”

WILL alleges district administrators failed to contact the district’s Title IX coordinator upon learning of the incident, a requirement under federal law. The Milwaukee-based public interest law firm also raised questions about the district’s policies to handle such privacy concerns.

“Our clients attempted to resolve their concerns with the district, but did not receive answers to their questions about what the locker room use policy was, how the school allowed this to happen, and what the policy would be going forward,” the complaint alleges. “While SPASD administrators repeatedly referenced a ‘policy’ that they said addressed the situation, no one could identify what the policy was or produce a copy.”

“Over a month after the incident, a principal emailed our client and apologized ‘for the incident that occurred’ and attached a copy of a ‘Restroom and Locker Room Accessibility Guidance’ document (Ex. A), which by all accounts was never adopted by the school board,” the complaint continues.

WILL is bringing the complaint under Title IX, a federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs and activities. Under this law, sex discrimination encompasses sexual harassment, which includes unwelcome conduct so severe that it effectively denies a person equal access to the education program, like the incident that occurred in Sun Prairie. Title IX imposes mandatory duties upon schools and grants meaningful rights to the victims of alleged sexual harassment.

WILL claims in this complaint that SPASD discriminated against four freshman girls on the basis of sex. Not only did the district fail to comply with requirements under Title IX, but its policies fail to protect all female students in the district.

“Parents and students should feel safe and have peace of mind when kids go back to school this fall. But, the Sun Prairie Area School District has frankly been dismissive in how it has handled the alleged sexual harassment towards these four freshman girls,” said Cory Brewer, associate counsel at the WILL.

When WILL sought follow-up records, the school district charged the law firm $11,000 for the documents. The school has yet to provide its policies regarding the matter or clarify when, where, and how male and female students may use locker rooms in the district, according to WILL.

Sun Prairie Area School District administrator Brad Saron did not return a request seeking comment.

The district previously issued a statement calling WILL’s account of the incident “ill-informed, inaccurate and incomplete.”

“The Sun Prairie Area School District does not condone any student of one sex being present in a state of undress in the presence of students of another sex,” the district said in the statement. “The district does not condone a student of one sex showering in the presence of students of another sex.”

District officials at the time cited student privacy in declining to comment further.

Dozens of concerned Sun Prairie area residents attended a Sun Prairie School Board meeting on April 24, many expressing their concerns about the shower incident and the district’s response to it.

Sun Prairie resident Andy Johnson said the district simply blamed the victims, the Sun Prairie Star reported.

“The district’s solution has told the assaulted girls to put in a request to use a private bathroom or shower,” Johnson said. “The message for young women is if you are afraid, just go hide. I’m ashamed of our Sun Prairie School Leadership.”

“This happened way back in March and was kept secret until now,” Jackie Reindl told the board. “This should be a criminal matter, not a ‘let’s just brush it under the carpet’ matter. You’re supposed to be keeping our children safe. My question now is how are you going to keep anyone with male body parts out of a place where girls should feel safe?”

WILL asserts the district has a recent history of discriminatory conduct, including allegations of race discrimination and retaliation against a parent who raised concerns about a book with sex-based messages that was being read to first-grade students.

“These troubling events are occurring across the country, and by no means what happened in Wisconsin is an isolated incident,” said Dan Lennington, deputy counsel at WILL. “It’s imperative that the Biden Administration responds to our complaint—while sending a clear message that common-sense and the rule of law will prevail in schools across America.”

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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.

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