Colorado's Jeffco Public Schools, Department of Education agree to pause lawsuit over alleged Title IX violation

The U.S. Department of Education and Jeffco Public Schools have agreed to "indefinitely pause" pending litigation in which the school district had been accused of violating Title IX by allowing male students to participate on female sports teams and to share bathrooms and overnight accommodations.

Earlier this year, the Department of Education had threatened to withhold more than $50 million in federal funding over the allegations. Jeffco Public Schools responded by filing a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education, asking a federal judge to referee the conflict between the Trump administration's interpretation of Title IX and the school district's legal obligations under Colorado law, which bans discrimination against transgender students. 

Jeffco had argued the federal investigation was based on flawed information. In an "impasse letter" in June, the DOE claimed it found male students on the school's rosters for its female sports teams.  

Now, the two sides have agreed to stay the lawsuit, based on the federal government's lack of intent to pursue those "enforcement actions," which include any "federal attempt to restrict or rescind Jeffco Public Schools' federal funding." 

Jeffco Public Schools released this statement which read, in part, As set forth in the joint motion, if either the U.S. Department of Education or the Department of Justice changes its position, they must give Jeffco 45 days advance notice so that the district can resume the litigation.

The stay is defined as a procedural step in the litigation, not a decision by the court. 

Title IX is a federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in educational programs and activities that receive taxpayer dollars. 

Jeffco Public Schools said that this lawsuit is unrelated to Proposition 134, which was passed by voters in Colorado last week. The proposition requires all public schools, kindergarten through college, to designate sports teams as male-only and female-only. The proposition also requires schools to adopt policies that require students to play on the teams that align with their biological sex.