Exclusive: Federal officials investigating whether Katy ISD's gender policy is discriminatory

• The Houston Landing has covered Katy ISD's heavily-debated gender policy since it was introduced last year.
• The Landing reported last year that the school district revealed the gender identities of 19 students to their parents.
• That reporting was cited in a complaint to federal officials that has led to an investigation of the district, records show.

The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation Monday into Katy Independent School District to determine if its controversial gender identity policy discriminates against students, according to records obtained by the Houston Landing.

The investigation comes after the Landing reported in November 2023 that Katy ISD revealed the gender identities of 19 students to their parents in the two months after the policy passed. Several weeks later, student advocacy organization Students Engaged in Advancing Texas used the report's findings in a federal Title IX complaint alleging Katy ISD discriminated against these students on the basis of sex.

Katy's conservative-majority school board was one of the first in greater Houston to pass a policy that requires staff to disclose students' gender identity to parents and allow employees to reject students' requests to use different pronouns, among other protocols. 

Trustees narrowly passed the policy, 4-3, in August 2023 during a heated seven-hour meeting where nearly 100 community members pleaded with the board to reject it. 

KATY ISD'S GENDER IDENTITY POLICY

The policy outlines several mandates and prohibitions related to employees. They include:

• Parents must give staff permission to use pronouns that differ from a student's biological sex.
• Staff may decline to use a student's preferred name or pronouns, even if parents give permission.
• Staff cannot ask students about their preferred pronouns.
• Students must use bathrooms and other facilities that align with their sex assigned at birth.
• Staff must notify a student's parents if the student identifies themselves as transgender or requests a name/pronoun change (exception allowed in cases of suspected abuse).
• Staff cannot teach or share information about gender fluidity or the broader idea that gender is a social construct.

The Office for Civil Rights, or OCR, enforces federal Title IX law, which prohibits sex discrimination in federally-funded education programs or activities. The OCR has informed Katy ISD and requested information and documentation for the investigation, records show. 

A Katy ISD spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment. 

In a January interview with the Landing, Katy Board President Victor Perez said the policy aims to keep parents informed and protects teachers from making uncomfortable decisions regarding students' gender identity, such as keeping it a secret from parents. 

"The policy wasn't intended to be hostile at all, to any group," Perez said. "The last thing a teacher would want to do is be hostile."

However, the Landing published a story in March chronicling the experience of Kadence Carter, a transgender 17-year-old, after he described intolerance in his Katy ISD high school after the policy passed — prompting him to drop out.

On Monday, Kadence said he's glad something could be done about the policy. 

"I hope this can help set an example to other school boards across the country that are trying to pass similar policies," Kadence said. "These policies hurt people. They drive students like myself away from school and make us feel unsafe. I hope at the very least, the investigation will make other districts think twice before putting their students' education and safety in jeopardy like Katy ISD did."

It is unclear how long the OCR's investigation into the district could take. The investigation could conclude in different ways:

• At any time, the district could opt to resolve the complaint through a resolution agreement. The OCR would decide if this is appropriate. 
• If the OCR determines the district failed to comply with Title IX laws, the district could either voluntarily enter into a resolution agreement to address the issue or the OCR will outline what actions the district must take to correct its non-compliance. 

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