Welcome back for the 2024-2025 school year! While you were gone, there were no significant changes in Texas regarding the status of the new Title IX regulations that are scheduled to be implemented on August 1, 2024. So, as we prepare for the new school year, nothing has changed… yet. But, as you know, the future of the new Title IX regulations in Texas is precarious with the federal government saying one thing, state government the opposite, and everyone looking to a federal court judge in Amarillo, Texas to break the impasse.
To understand the status of the new Title IX regulations, the following timeline of the regulations and related controversies is instructive:
- April 29, 2024
o Release of the Final Regulations: The U.S. Department of Education released the final version of the new Title IX regulations (2024 Regulations), which, among other things, expand protections to include sexual orientation, gender identity, and pregnancy status.
o Governor’s Directive: Texas Governor Greg Abbott instructed the Texas Education Agency (“TEA”) to ignore the 2024 Regulations, asserting President Biden “exceeded his authority” by rewriting Title IX to “force schools to treat boys as if they were girls and to accept every student’s self-declared gender identity.”
o Texas Lawsuit: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of Texas, Amarillo Division, seeking an injunction to block the implementation of the 2024 Regulations in Texas. In seven lawsuits across the country, a total of 26 states have challenged implementation of the 2024 Regulations.
- May 21, 2024
o Carroll ISD Lawsuit: Carroll ISD filed a lawsuit challenging the 2024 Regulations in the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division. The Department of Education filed a motion to consolidate the Carroll ISD Lawsuit with the Texas Lawsuit in Amarillo, but the motion was denied, so the Carroll ISD Lawsuit will proceed separately in Fort Worth.
- June 11, 2024
o Federal Court Ruling: The Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division, blocked the 2021 guidance documents issued by the U.S. Department of Education that sought to extend anti-discrimination protections under Title IX to sexual orientation and gender identity. The June 11, 2024 order, however, only applies to the 2021 guidance documents and not the 2024 Regulations.
- June 13, 2024
o Administrative Guidance: TEA notified school districts that it “will not take steps to implement the new federal regulations” and that TEA will “comply with the version in effect since 2020.” TEA further stated, “Texas school districts and charter schools seeking to receive grant funds from TEA should likewise comply with the version of the regulations that have been in effect since 2020.”
- July 8, 2024
o Hearing in Carroll ISD Lawsuit: The same federal court judge who blocked the Department of Education’s 2021 guidance documents on June 11, 2024, heard Carroll ISD’s motion to delay the effective date of the 2024 Regulations and to enjoin the implementation of certain provisions contained in the 2024 Regulations. Carroll ISD is the only plaintiff in the lawsuit, so any injunction that may be granted should only apply to Carroll ISD. The Court has not issued an order…yet.
As you can see, there is significant uncertainty regarding the implementation of the 2024 Regulations in Texas, but, as August 1, 2024 approaches, we anticipate the presiding judge in the Texas Lawsuit filed by Ken Paxton will follow the lead of three other federal judges and issue an order blocking implementation of the 2024 Regulations.
To be continued…
