The U.S. Department of Education said Thursday that Denver Public Schools violated Title IX, the federal law banning sex discrimination in education, after the district created all-gender bathrooms and policies that allowed students to use facilities based on gender identity, rather than biological sex.

The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights began an investigation in January into East High School after the district changed a girls’ restroom into an all-gender bathroom, which the department’s officials said violated federal guidelines under Title IX.

Education Department: District Violated Title IX with All-Gender Bathroom

Denver Public Schools began the dispute with federal officials last year after it converted a girls’ restroom at East High School into an all-gender facility, while other restrooms on the same floor were only designated for boys. District officials said they had made the move after a student-led process and maintained that the new facilities had 12-foot-tall partitions surrounding toilets to enhance privacy and security.

Federal investigators said, however, that the policy change violated Title IX rules. In a statement, Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said the district decision “resulted in students being denied equal access to restroom facilities” and had created a “hostile environment.”

District later created a second all-gender restroom on the same floor to address concerns of equal access. The district also maintained that students had access to other traditional male and female restrooms, as well as single-stall, all-gender bathrooms throughout the school.

The Department of Education issued a proposed resolution letter to Denver Public Schools on Thursday, outlining four conditions the district must meet in the next 10 days if they want to avoid enforcement. The resolution would require the district to:

Immediately redesignate all of their all-gender multi-stall restrooms as sex-specific facilities.

Immediately cease and desist policies and practices that permit students to use their intimate facilities based on their gender identity, rather than their biological sex.

Immediately cease and desist from using definitions of “male” and “female” that are based on anything other than biological sex for purposes of any policies and practices related to Title IX.

Immediately send a memorandum to all schools and employees stating that they must ensure that restroom facilities “protect the privacy, dignity, and safety of students” and are “comparably accessible to students of both sexes.”

The department can take enforcement measures against the district if it chooses not to accept the proposed resolution plan. Possible enforcement measures could include the district’s loss of federal funds.

In a statement, Trainor called the district’s decision “policies that endanger student safety, privacy, and dignity.”

“Denver Public Schools violated Title IX and its implementing regulations by converting a sex-segregated restroom designated for girls in East High School to an ‘all-gender’ facility and by allowing students to use the high school’s intimate facilities on the basis of their gender identity rather than their biological sex,” Trainor said in a statement. “Denver is free to endorse a self-defeating gender ideology, but it is not free to accept federal taxpayer funds and harm its students in violation of Title IX. The Trump Administration will work relentlessly to hold accountable school districts that harbor the ideological fanatics and policies that sully students’ educational experience with sex discrimination.”

The district has maintained that the policy change came through a student-led process and said the new bathrooms were designed to address a need while keeping privacy and safety protections. District officials had not publicly responded to the department’s latest findings Thursday but previously said students still have access to a variety of restrooms, including single-stall bathrooms that any student can use for added privacy.

Issue Part of National Debate on Gender Identity in Schools

The Denver dispute is part of a broader national debate about gender identity policies in schools. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that effectively blocks transgender girls from competing on sports teams that do not match their biological sex.

Lawmakers have also taken up legislation to bar transgender students from using bathrooms or playing sports teams that do not correspond with their biological sex. For example, the Republican-led U.S. House last year passed legislation barring transgender students from using schools bathrooms other than the one that matches their biological sex.

The Education Department has also opened multiple cases into schools and universities’ gender-related policies. This week, the department said George Mason University violated federal law after it had unlawful diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs under Title VI.

What’s Next for Denver Public Schools

Denver Public Schools now has to decide whether to accept the proposed resolution letter or risk the enforcement action that could put at risk millions in federal funding. The district has 10 days to respond to the Education Department and choose whether it will backtrack its all-gender bathroom policies.

The situation is likely to continue to heat up as the debate over bathroom policies in schools become more polarized between federal oversight, local decision-making, and student-led initiatives.