Today, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) sent a letter to the Superintendent of the Saratoga Springs City School District (the District) Dr. Michael Patton notifying him that OCR is initiating an investigation amid allegations that the District has violated Title IX.
Last month, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon urging the Department of Education’s OCR to evaluate whether the District’s policy, as articulated in a March 2025 Board of Education resolution, violates federal law. The resolution, “Affirming Our Support for Every Student,” states that, with regard to “transgender and gender-expansive students,” the District will “ensure their right to use facilities and participate in activities and sports consistent with their gender identity,” which raises Title IX concerns.
“The Trump Administration has been unrelenting in our effort to ensure that women and girls’ educational experiences are not marred by sex discrimination. It is a clear violation of federal civil rights law, and of women’s dignity, to allow males to participate in female-sports and occupy female-only intimate facilities,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “Women fought for decades to secure Title IX protections, only to have these protections subverted and betrayed by those who prioritize a distorted ideology over fairness, dignity, and safety. OCR will uphold the law to ensure that no female is deprived of her civil rights or robbed of her rightful accolades.”
“After my strong public advocacy, I want to thank President Donald Trump and Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon for swiftly opening a formal investigation into the Saratoga Springs City School District for their failure to uphold Title IX protections for women and girls in sports. This decisive action demonstrates my continued record of delivering results on behalf of NY students, parents, and families,” said Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY). “The Saratoga Springs School Board’s resolution allowing biological males to participate in girls’ sports and access girls’ locker rooms is a blatant violation of federal law under Title IX and an affront to the progress generations of women have fought to achieve. I remain steadfast in my commitment to fighting for the rights and futures of our young women, and I am proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with President Trump in this important effort. Thank you to the local parents who brought this to my direct attention.”
Background:
The investigation letter includes a data request for the information that OCR requires for its investigation, including:
- The District’s narrative response to the allegation under investigation and all documents or records referenced in the narrative response;
- All written policies or procedures in effect in, or followed by, the District during the 2024-2025 school year regarding the participation of male student athletes on girls’ athletic teams and/or their access to girls’ locker rooms;
- A copy of the District’s policy describing the definition or meaning of the words “sex,” “gender,” and/or “gender identity”;
- Any documentation regarding inquiries, complaints, or requested revisions to the policies or procedures regarding male participation in girls’ athletic teams and/or their access to girls’ locker rooms;
- A list of the District’s sports teams for girls and separately for boys for the 2024-2025 school year; and
- A copy of the District’s athletic team rosters for all interscholastic sports teams classified for girls or women, identifying on each such roster any participants who are male.
OCR launched this investigation under its authority pursuant to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Title IX and its implementing regulation prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex in any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.