A school district in Maine is moving to comply with the current federal definition of Title IX and ban biological male trans athletes from girls’ sports, while the state government fights to enable trans inclusion.
The MSAD #70 School Board voted unanimously on Monday night to comply with Title IX, “recognizing only two sexes – biological male and biological female and that all private spaces be separated by biological sex.”
MSAD #70 superintendent Tyler Putnam told Fox News Digital that, due to this vote, he is now directed to amend the district’s policies to prevent trans athletes from competing in girls’ sports.
“The motion directs me to rewrite our policies to adhere to the motion. It is my interpretation that the school board will be looking to approve policies that align biological sex to their specific athletic teams too i.e. biological males will be playing with only other biological males and same for biological females. These policies will need to be approved by the policy committee and the board once rewritten,” Putnam said.
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MSAD #70 is based in Hodgdon in Aroostook County. It is the northernmost county in the state and voted for President Donald Trump by a margin of 18% in the November election. The county also voted for two Republican state senators and seven Republican state House representatives.
Now, the county’s school district will be siding with Trump and its Republican lawmakers in the ongoing battle over trans athlete inclusion in girls’ sports.
Putnam told Fox News Digital that the district has had no communication with state authorities, including the attorney general, the Maine Department of Education (MDOE) or the Maine Principal’s Association (MPA) about the recent vote.
“We have not had communication over this specific motion. Our board, similar to many people in Maine, have been following the back and forth communication between the federal government and the state. We are hoping for both sides to work together to help support local school districts like ourselves,” Putnam said.
“With the rising educational costs, this is a time we need to work with each other and not against. The board and our staff’s No. 1 priority is to provide our students with an education that will positively impact their future in our great state and country. I am proud to work for and be from our small community in Hodgdon, Maine. My hope is that all of our students will benefit from the leadership decisions that are made at the local, state and national level.”
Maine state Rep. Tracy Quint, one of the Republicans who represents Aroostook County, praised MSAD #70 for its vote.
“I’m encouraged to see our local Maine community standing up for our students by upholding Title IX protections. Ensuring fairness, safety and privacy for every student should always come before politics. I urge other school districts across the state to follow this example and prioritize the well-being of all their students,” Quint told Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Maine Attorney General’s Office and Gov. Janet Mills’ office for comment.
The state is currently facing immense federal pressure to comply with Trump’s February executive order to ban trans athletes from girls’ and women’s sports, but has firmly defied the order under Mills’ leadership.
Maine has been referred to the Department of Justice twice over the last month, and faces a federal funding freeze by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Maine officials filed a lawsuit against the USDA last Monday in response to the agency’s decision to freeze funding.
A federal judge ruled Friday that the USDA “must immediately unfreeze and release to the state of Maine any federal funding that they have frozen or failed or refused to pay because of the state of Maine’s alleged failure to comply with the requirements of Title IX.”
The state’s divide on trans inclusion was then brought to light when Maine state Rep. Laurel Libby identified a trans athlete in a social media post who won a girls’ pole vault competition for Greely High School in February.
Libby was censured for her social media post on the premise she identified a minor by name and with a photo. However, Libby has since filed a lawsuit to have the censure overturned, arguing the trans athlete had already been identified by other media prior to her post. The lawsuit has gone to trial in a Rhode Island district court.
In addition to the incident involving the pole vaulter at Greely High School, other instances have affected multiple girls across the state who have had to compete with and share locker rooms with biological males.
Maine teen Cassidy Carlisle told Fox News Digital about how she had to share a locker room with a trans student while in middle school. She then had to compete with another trans athlete in Nordic skiing last year.
“The defeat that comes with that in that moment is heartbreaking,” Carlisle said. “I’m just in shock in a way. I didn’t believe it.… I didn’t think it was happening to me.”
A survey by the American Parents Coalition found that out of about 600 registered Maine voters, 63% said school sports participation should be based on biological sex, and 66% agreed it’s “only fair to restrict women’s sports to biological women.”
The poll also found that 60% of residents would support a ballot measure limiting participation in women’s and girls’ sports to biological females. This included 64% of independents and 66% of parents with kids under age 18.
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