The U.S. Department of Education said Thursday that Denver Public Schools (DPS) violated federal law by creating all-gender bathrooms and allowing students to access them as their gender identity, rather than their biological sex.

The department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) began an investigation into DPS’s policies at East High School in January after district leaders converted one of the school’s women’s restrooms into an all-gender bathroom. District officials said the changes were made to align with federal law under Title IX, which bans sex-based discrimination in education.

The District Explained the Bathroom Was Converted After a Student-Led Process

Leaders said at the time the district worked with students to design the new all-gender bathroom, which was created to address student needs while also providing maximum privacy and security for all students. In addition to a 12-foot-tall partition around each toilet, the renovated restroom was to feature a tall wall down the middle separating it into two halves.

But federal authorities said the conversion violated Title IX. In a letter sent to the district on Thursday, Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said the decision “violates Title IX and its implementing regulations” by creating an environment where students have “unequal access to school restrooms and intimate facilities, and a hostile environment on the basis of sex.”

A second all-gender bathroom was later installed on the same floor of the school to prevent a situation where one restroom was only for all-gender and the other was for men.

District officials also maintained that students have access to gender-specific bathrooms, as well as gender-neutral single-stall restrooms throughout the school.

The department sent DPS a proposed resolution agreement on Thursday that would require the district to take specific steps within 10 days to avoid enforcement action.

The four requirements in the proposed resolution agreement are as follows:

Change all all-gender multi-stall restrooms back to sex-segregated restrooms.

End policies and practices allowing students to access a bathroom and use an intimate facility “on the basis of a student’s gender identity rather than the student’s biological sex.”

Use “biology-based definitions” of “male” and “female” for policies and practices “related to Title IX and its implementing regulations.”

Issue a memorandum to all schools in the district “reaffirming the requirement to protect the privacy, dignity, and safety of students, and the requirement to ensure that facilities are comparable in their accessibility to both sexes.”

If the district does not agree to or fail to meet the terms in the proposed resolution agreement, the department could take enforcement action, which could include stripping the district of federal funding.

OCR officials have maintained that all-gender bathroom policy is harmful to students. Trainor said in a statement that by allowing all-gender restrooms and permitting students to use bathrooms on the basis of their gender identity instead of their biological sex, the district “violated Title IX and its implementing regulations by creating a hostile environment on the basis of sex and by subjecting students to sexual harassment.”

“Denver Public Schools’ decision to allow male students to enter a facility that was formerly reserved for girls endangers student safety, privacy, and dignity and is textbook case of political policy panacea without thought to consequences for students,” Trainor added.

Trainor went on to say that while the district “is free to endorse a self-defeating gender ideology, it is not free to accept federal taxpayer funds and then harm its students in violation of Title IX.”

“This District, like other state and local educational institutions, has a legal duty to protect its students from the depredations of ideological fanatics,” he continued. “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 defended its bathroom policy, saying students helped in the design process and that the decision was made to meet their needs.

Denver Public Schools has not publicly commented on the latest finding from the federal investigation but previously told The Denver Post that “students have many options for bathroom use, including single-stall all-gender restrooms for anyone who desires more privacy.”

Denver Bathroom Conversion Is Part of National Debate on Gender Identity

The gender identity and privacy debate at DPS is the latest example of the broader debate playing out across the nation on how to address gender in schools. In February, President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transgender girls from competing on female sports teams.

Congressional Republicans have also said they plan to introduce legislation this year to prevent transgender students from using bathrooms or sports teams that align with their gender identity.

The Education Department has also been active in enforcing policies in other cases. This week, the department announced that George Mason University had violated Title VI by operating unlawful diversity, equity, and inclusion practices.

The district now has 10 days to respond to the resolution agreement from the Education Department and either acquiesce to the demands or risk losing millions in federal funding.