School district in Wisconsin responds to federal investigation into its bathroom policy

Kathryn Kovalenko, Pioneer Press on Mar 12, 2026

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School officials in New Richmond, Wisconsin, say they are cooperating with a federal investigation into their bathroom protocol, while maintaining that they are in compliance with Title IX policies.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights announced last week it was investigating the New Richmond School District for allegedly violating Title IX policies by allowing biological males to use female restrooms.

“The Trump Administration will always stand up for students and enforce Title IX to ensure that women and girls are safe when they are at school,” Kimberly Richey, assistant secretary for civil rights, said in a statement. “Young women should never be forced to share intimate spaces with boys and men.”

Last year, the Trump administration rescinded the Biden administration’s 2024 Title IX update that allowed transgender students to use bathroom, locker and shower facilities aligning with their gender identity. In January 2025, the Department of Education announced it would return to enforcing the Trump Administration’s 2020 Title IX policies, which required students to use facilities based on their biological sex.

The school district said it “has remained in compliance with all applicable laws in this area” in a statement responding to the investigation.

“Despite the tone and tenor of the press release, we look forward to participating in the OCR’s (Office of Civil Rights) investigation and to work collaboratively with the OCR on these matters moving forward,” the statement said.

Mixed student reactions

The Wisconsin Moms for Liberty live-streamed a special school board meeting Feb. 10 where parents and students voiced opinions about the district’s bathroom policy.

“When I first found out that a biological boy was using the girls’ bathroom, I felt uncomfortable, then I felt anxious,” a student at the meeting said. She said she has stopped using the bathrooms at school because of these worries.

Another student said she was not afraid to use the bathroom with someone who is transgender.

“While fear around violence in bathrooms is totally valid, potential worries about what could happen in the bathroom are misplaced,” she said. “Trans people are not scary. They are our community members, and in this case, a child who, like anyone else, just wants to use the bathroom.”

Jamie Yeager, a senior at New Richmond High School, said Wednesday that he did not see an issue with a gender-identity bathroom policy.

“These (transgender students) are some of the nicest and sweetest people I know, and, to be honest with you, most of them don’t even use the gendered bathrooms,” he said. “Almost all of them use the non-gendered bathroom in the health office or in the main office, and a non-gendered locker room.”

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