TITLE IX TRAINING LEADS ROCKWOOD EMPLOYEES TO BELIEVE BIOLOGICAL BOYS WILL USE GIRLS' BATHROOMS AND LOCKER ROOMS THIS YEAR. NOW, THE DISTRICT IS BACKTRACKING.
For at least a week now, Rockwood employees have been taking training that instructs them to allow students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.
Rockwood suddenly announced yesterday that the training was, essentially, a mistake. More on that below.
This Rockwood employee took the online training and leaked the slides for us to share:
"This is the new Title IX course for teachers and subs in Rockwood! Ugh! I don’t want boys identifying as a girl in our granddaughters bathroom!"
This woman is the mom of a student who also took the training for a job as an assistant:
"It is maddening that all girls have to now be concerned about who is in the bathroom. I warned my girls and told them to warn their friends to be on the lookout. Some of them are taking pe." (Physical Education.) Note: Rockwood's training did not apply to athletics.
WAS IT AN ERROR OR SOMETHING ELSE?
Now that Rockwood is essentially saying the training was a mistake, some in the community don't know what to think. The mom again: "She said she understood it to be mandatory because it (slide) linked to the title IX law."
Now that Rockwood is essentially saying the training was a mistake, some in the community don't know what to think. The mom again: "She said she understood it to be mandatory because it (slide) linked to the title IX law."
THE TRAINING SLIDES
The specific training course at issue explains an update to Title IX, the federal civil rights law. The update was finalized this spring by President Joe Biden's administration, and makes changes that essentially allow students to use bathrooms and locker rooms for the gender in which they identify.
The slides were written as though the Title IX update is now mandated, but that's not the case, at least yet, due to court cases that have been filed around the country.
The training, online, includes slides with wording like this:
"Students experience sex-based harm when they are barred from accessing facilities or activities consistent with their gender identity."
and
"Transgender students are allowed to use the bathroom or locker room that matches their gender identity."
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| Slide from Title IX training given to Rockwood employees. |
Another slide describes the change as actions employees "must take:"
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| Slide from Title IX training given to Rockwood employees. |
TWIST: ALTHOUGH IT WAS IN ROCKWOOD'S TRAINING, THE DISTRICT SAYS WE'RE NOT DOING THAT
A spokesperson for Rockwood, who asked not to be named, told us that Rockwood had NOT made the update mandatory, and didn't have to, referencing the court challenges.
If not mandated, why the training? The spokesperson could not immediately explain the wording in the slides, and called it problematic: "If it's in our training, it should be removed."
Slides from the training were leaked and posted today/Friday on social media. There was backlash, and questions from the community were also sent to the district today.
HOURS LATER, PULLED, RE-DOING TRAINING
Soon after, Rockwood's Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources sent out an email to the district's employees saying the slides will be "stricken" from the training, replaced, and that people who already took the training will have to retake the training with the new slides. (See the full email from Dr. Kim Cohen below.)
WHO ISSUED THE TRAINING?
The email says the training came from Public School Works.
According to the spokesperson above, Public School Works is a platform that provides various training courses to school employees around the state. Also according to the spokesperson, the training on Public School Works was mandated federally by the Department of Education.
Public School Works is now redoing the slides, according to the Rockwood email.
Ironically, Friday afternoon, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that, at least temporarily, struck down the Title IX update found in Rockwood's training. The ruling was for cases affecting certain states, not the whole country. Here in Missouri, the Title IX update is blocked because of a separate case brought by the state's attorney general.
NOT "REQUIRED" OR NOT "ALLOWED"?
Although Rockwood now maintains that they are not requiring teachers and staff to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms of the gender with which they identify, it's not clear if "not required" means "not allowed." Dr. Cohen, in her email only said, "Specific to restrooms, we work with families and provide alternative accommodations as needed, such as single stall restrooms."
WHAT YOU CAN DO
School starts in three days in Rockwood.
If you want to know for sure how the issue will be handled at your child's school, contact your school's principal.
You may be told that it's not a policy, but keep in mind, it is also not policy for teachers to use preferred pronouns. Yet, it is allowed. Additionally, the 50% minimum grade used in Rockwood's six middle schools was also not written in a policy, but was still implemented.
So, ask questions.
If you still need more information, you can also contact Rockwood's superintendent and board of education:
caincurtis@rsdmo.org
board-of-education@rsdmo.org
We have emailed questions to Dr. Kim Cohen, the administrator who wrote the Rockwood email. We will update with her response.
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OTHER SLIDES FROM TITLE IX TRAINING
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| Slide from Rockwood employee training points out that in the Title IX update, no documentation of gender identity is required. This slide will apparently be replaced by slides previously approved in 2020. |
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| Slide from Rockwood employee Title IX training, which will apparently also be replaced. The last line states the update went into effect earlier this month, further leading employees to believe they were required to allow biological boys to use girls' bathrooms and locker rooms (except for athletics). |
FULL ROCKWOOD EMAIL ABOUT REMOVING TRAINING SLIDES:
POINTS TO NOTE IN THE EMAIL
*The training aligned with the regulations that were set to take effect before court challenges.
*"The Title IX training that some staff have already completed included content that doesn't reflect where we are as a school district."
*"We received notification this week that Missouri United School Insurance Council (MUSIC) has advised that the 2024 training be stricken from our annual training and replaced with the previous training approved in 2020."
This post has been edited to add information about the Supreme Court ruling and related context.