The U.S. Department of Education has opened an investigation into Buncombe County Schools over the district’s bathroom policy for transgender students, after a “concerned parent” contacted the federal agency.
The inquiry comes amid a monthlong Trump administration effort targeting the rights of transgender students in school districts across the country, including some in North Carolina, Kansas, Colorado and Michigan.
Assistant Education Secretary Kimberly Richey, who oversees the department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), announced the Buncombe County inquiry in a June 17 press release.
“A concerned parent reported to OCR that girls in the District are being forced to share their female-only restrooms with biological men,” the press release stated, in an apparent reference to transgender women or girls.
Richey said the Trump administration is taking action to “hold schools accountable” and “ensure the safety of female students across America.”
“Since Day One, the Trump Administration has steadfastly enforced Title IX according to its intended purpose — to protect young women and girls from discrimination on the basis of sex,” Richey said in a statement.
Title IX is the 1972 federal civil rights law banning sex discrimination in education programs that receive federal funding.
During President Trump’s second term, the administration’s use of the law has focused mainly on pressuring states and school districts to roll back protections for transgender students, such as policies that allow transgender students to play sports or use bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity rather than their gender assigned at birth. Those that reject the Trump administration’s efforts often risk losing federal funding.
In a statement to BPR Monday, Buncombe County Schools chief communications officer Ken Ulmer said the school district will “fully cooperate” with the Department of Education investigation.
“BCS follows the law regarding students' rights ensuring that all students have access to safe restrooms, locker rooms, and other school facilities,” Ulmer said. “Our schools work with all students and families to ensure that every student has access to facilities that meet their needs in a safe and private manner.”
The U.S. Department of Education announced a similar investigation into Cabarrus County Schools earlier this month.
Policies regarding transgender students vary by state and school district.
In Buncombe County, the school district’s gender support guidelines state that transgender and gender non-conforming students “must be provided access to safe facilities (restrooms, locker rooms or changing rooms).”
The guidelines continue:
A transgender student may not be required to use a facility that conflicts with the student’s gender identity consistently asserted at school. Schools should work with students and their families to facilitate restroom and locker room use that meets the student’s safety and privacy needs and the spirit of these procedures.
Schools must provide reasonable alternative arrangements for any student who expresses a need or desire for increased privacy. Reasonable alternative arrangements may include a single occupancy restroom, use of a private area, or a separate changing schedule. Any alternative arrangement should be provided in a non-stigmatizing way and in a manner that protects a student’s ability to keep their transgender status confidential.
Further details were not immediately available regarding the circumstances that prompted the Department of Education investigation.
The Campaign for Southern Equality, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group based in Asheville, said Buncombe County Schools are complying a legal precedent that requires schools in five states — including North Carolina — to let students use the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity.
"Buncombe County Schools is following the law and treating transgender students with the respect and dignity that all students deserve," the group's spokesperson, Adam Polaski, said in a statement Monday. "The Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board case was decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, and their decision was allowed to stand by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2021, making the ruling binding across the circuit (Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia)."
