A Virginia school district official conspired to “skirt” restrictions on transgender ideology in schools, prompting a Title IX “expert” to praise her “clever” workaround, emails shared with The Daily Wire reveal.
On January 22, 2025, Leah Bressler, Montgomery County Public Schools’ Title IX compliance officer, corresponded with the Association of Title IX Administrators about ways to respond to Trump’s expected executive actions on transgender ideology. In the email exchange, obtained by Speech First and shared with The Daily Wire. Bressler proposed altering the district’s code of conduct in a way to keep its current “gender identity protections” in place.
In response, Brett Sokolow, the chair of the advisory board for the Association of Title IX Administrators, said that he didn’t know if Bressler’s proposal would successfully “skirt” executive action, but that it may be worth it to “go down fighting.”
The exchange, with the subject line “Implications of EO,” occurred two days after Trump’s inauguration.
“This is just a brainstorm….What if the system just moved to a code of conduct that provided the Title IX framework to any allegation for any reason that violated the Davis standard?” Bressler wrote. “With support services, monitoring, documentation as required in Title IX — but open the gate to entire conduct policy? Our jurisdiction has protections in our policy manual for gender identity – if the policies applied to everything equally across the board- couldn’t the system maintain the protections?”
The Davis Standard refers to federal guidelines that stipulate schools can only be held liable for sexual harassment and violations of Title IX if they have knowledge of, and are indifferent to, sexual harassment.
In response, Sokolow said that Bressler may have come up with a “clever” way to get past Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s (R) Department of Education, which holds that Title IX allows schools to restrict bathroom use by sex.
“This is too state-specific for me to really be able to opine on, Leah. It’s clever, but I have no idea if it would work to skirt the limitations that VA is enacting. My suspicion is that state legislatures will punish cleverness, in the long run (see Texas). Meaning, that if school officials like you find legit ways to work around the state limitations, the state will learn from this and respond by tightening its limitations,” Sokolow replied.
“This might be a viable strategy for you, or at least a good delaying tactic, but I don’t think it has legs in the long term. I think if it walks like a Title IX duck, it’s not going to matter what container we place it in. But, fight the good fight. I’m just giving you thoughts on whether your idea is a winner…but it might be good to go down fighting,” he added.
That email came two days after Trump signed an executive order on “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism,” which rescinded the Biden administration’s application of Title IX to gender identity. He later signed an executive order that directed federal funding away from schools that push gender ideology on students.
Current Montgomery County Public Schools policies stipulate that students are allowed to use the bathroom or locker room of their choice based on their gender identity, meaning that males are allowed into female restrooms and changing areas.
When asked by The Daily Wire if it consults on bypassing federal regulations, the Association of Title IX Administrators said that it does “not provide legal advice.”
“ATIXA often discusses with members the challenges of competing and unclear federal, state, and court standards, and we encourage our members to explore the contours of these challenges fully to best assess how their schools, districts, and institutions should respond to a dynamic legal environment related to sex discrimination,” the organization said.
A similar dynamic has played out across the country as liberal school officials have resisted Trump’s efforts to purge leftist ideology from federally funded schools and empower parents concerned about political indoctrination.
Speech First Acting Executive Director Nicole Neily called for Congress to step into the fight over Title IX.
“It’s appalling — albeit unsurprising — that Title IX administrators seem to be determined to circumvent the very laws they’re supposed to be enforcing,” Neily said. “America’s girls are little more than collateral damage in these activists’ larger political war, which is why it’s imperative that Congress steps in to provide certainty and clarity and end these games.”
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[[{“value”:”
A Virginia school district official conspired to “skirt” restrictions on transgender ideology in schools, prompting a Title IX “expert” to praise her “clever” workaround, emails shared with The Daily Wire reveal.
On January 22, 2025, Leah Bressler, Montgomery County Public Schools’ Title IX compliance officer, corresponded with the Association of Title IX Administrators about ways to respond to Trump’s expected executive actions on transgender ideology. In the email exchange, obtained by Speech First and shared with The Daily Wire. Bressler proposed altering the district’s code of conduct in a way to keep its current “gender identity protections” in place.
In response, Brett Sokolow, the chair of the advisory board for the Association of Title IX Administrators, said that he didn’t know if Bressler’s proposal would successfully “skirt” executive action, but that it may be worth it to “go down fighting.”
The exchange, with the subject line “Implications of EO,” occurred two days after Trump’s inauguration.
“This is just a brainstorm….What if the system just moved to a code of conduct that provided the Title IX framework to any allegation for any reason that violated the Davis standard?” Bressler wrote. “With support services, monitoring, documentation as required in Title IX — but open the gate to entire conduct policy? Our jurisdiction has protections in our policy manual for gender identity – if the policies applied to everything equally across the board- couldn’t the system maintain the protections?”
The Davis Standard refers to federal guidelines that stipulate schools can only be held liable for sexual harassment and violations of Title IX if they have knowledge of, and are indifferent to, sexual harassment.
In response, Sokolow said that Bressler may have come up with a “clever” way to get past Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s (R) Department of Education, which holds that Title IX allows schools to restrict bathroom use by sex.
“This is too state-specific for me to really be able to opine on, Leah. It’s clever, but I have no idea if it would work to skirt the limitations that VA is enacting. My suspicion is that state legislatures will punish cleverness, in the long run (see Texas). Meaning, that if school officials like you find legit ways to work around the state limitations, the state will learn from this and respond by tightening its limitations,” Sokolow replied.
“This might be a viable strategy for you, or at least a good delaying tactic, but I don’t think it has legs in the long term. I think if it walks like a Title IX duck, it’s not going to matter what container we place it in. But, fight the good fight. I’m just giving you thoughts on whether your idea is a winner…but it might be good to go down fighting,” he added.
That email came two days after Trump signed an executive order on “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism,” which rescinded the Biden administration’s application of Title IX to gender identity. He later signed an executive order that directed federal funding away from schools that push gender ideology on students.
Current Montgomery County Public Schools policies stipulate that students are allowed to use the bathroom or locker room of their choice based on their gender identity, meaning that males are allowed into female restrooms and changing areas.
When asked by The Daily Wire if it consults on bypassing federal regulations, the Association of Title IX Administrators said that it does “not provide legal advice.”
“ATIXA often discusses with members the challenges of competing and unclear federal, state, and court standards, and we encourage our members to explore the contours of these challenges fully to best assess how their schools, districts, and institutions should respond to a dynamic legal environment related to sex discrimination,” the organization said.
A similar dynamic has played out across the country as liberal school officials have resisted Trump’s efforts to purge leftist ideology from federally funded schools and empower parents concerned about political indoctrination.
Speech First Acting Executive Director Nicole Neily called for Congress to step into the fight over Title IX.
“It’s appalling — albeit unsurprising — that Title IX administrators seem to be determined to circumvent the very laws they’re supposed to be enforcing,” Neily said. “America’s girls are little more than collateral damage in these activists’ larger political war, which is why it’s imperative that Congress steps in to provide certainty and clarity and end these games.”
“}]]
