(The Center Square) — The Trump administration has issued a “final warning” to the Maine Department of Education to comply with a federal directive barring transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports.
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Education issued a notice to Maine that it is in violation of Title IX by allowing trans athletes to compete in girls’ sports. The federal agency gave the state Department of Education, Maine Principals’ Association and Greely High School until April 11 to sign a resolution agreement, or it will refer the case to the Justice Department for prosecution.
A proposed agreement would require Maine to admit “liability” that it “engaged in wrongful or illegal activity in violation of Title IX in allowing the participation of male athletes in female-only high school sports in the state.”
The agreement would require the state to return more than $180,000 in federal funding it received for the 2024-25 school year. It would also require training for schools on their “obligations to ensure equal opportunity to female athletes under Title IX to participate in education programs and activities.”
“The Maine Department of Education’s indifference to its past, current, and future female athletes is astonishing,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in a statement. “By refusing to comply with Title IX, MDOE allows — indeed, encourages — male competitors to threaten the safety of female athletes, wrongfully obtain girls’ hard-earned accolades, and deny females equal opportunity in educational activities to which they are guaranteed under Title IX.”
However, the Maine Principals Association is refusing to sign the agreement and argues that the state is on the right side of the law by allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports. The MPA also argues that because the association is not exclusively funded through Title IX, the federal government doesn’t have jurisdiction over its policies, which are backed by state law.
Maine has become a focal point in the national debate over transgender athletes in female sports since a confrontation between Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and President Trump, who has vowed to withhold federal funding from any states that fail to comply with his “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order.
Attorney General Pam Bondi has threatened to sue the state to enforce Trump’s order, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has already referred Maine to the DOJ over Title IX compliance.
Last week, the Department of Education said it is investigating Maine over allegations that some school policies violate the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act by advising students on transgender transition without informing their parents.
“We have heard disturbing reports that dozens of Maine school districts allow for schools to create gender plans that support a student’s transgender identity and then hide those plans from parents, claiming they don’t fall under education records,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a video posted on social media. “That is unacceptable and unlawful, if true.”
