The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has launched an investigation into Cromwell Public Schools for possible violations to federal sex-based discrimination laws.
Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights, said in a May 2 letter to Cromwell Superintendent Enza Macri that federal officials “will examine” whether the district is violating Title IX statutes by allowing transgender students to participate in sports and use facilities that align with their gender identity.
Cromwell came under investigation by the same office in 2019, during President Donald J. Trump’s first administration, after a transgender student athlete, Andraya Yearwood, competed as a member of the town’s high school track team and reached the state finals. Three female athletes also sued the state and several school districts — including Cromwell — to block transgender students from playing girls’ sports.
In 2020, federal officials reached a determination that Connecticut had violated Title IX, but state leaders pushed back. Then in early 2021, just a few weeks into his term, President Joe Biden’s administration withdrew support for the lawsuit and rescinded the Education Department’s threats to cut funding to the districts. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2022.
This time around, the Office of Civil Rights is employing a “Rapid Resolution Process,” which would expedite the investigation, according to the letter.
Trainor wrote that the investigation is “not itself evidence of a violation of federal civil rights laws and regulations,” but he cited Cromwell Board of Education policies that grant access to restrooms, locker rooms, physical education classes, intramural sports and interscholastic competitive sports teams “in a manner consistent with their gender identity,” as evidence for the investigation.
“This policy is in irresolvable conflict with Federal law,” Trainor wrote. “Given Cromwell Public Schools’ publicly posted position in opposition to Title IX compliance, girls and young women will be, and are being, irreparably harmed on a continuous basis.”
The state Department of Education was informed by Cromwell district leaders about the investigation on May 22, about three weeks after the letter was issued. A spokesperson from the department said they were reviewing 2024 Title IX guidance, but provided no further details.
If Cromwell is again found out of compliance with Title IX, its federal funding could be at risk. The district received over $1.26 million from the federal government in the 2023-24 school year, according to School and State Finance Project. It’s total annual education budget is roughly $40 million, which is mostly covered by the town.
Cromwell, a town of just over 14,000, sits along the west side of the Connecticut River roughly 15 miles south of Hartford. In the 2024 presidential election, then-Vice President Kamala Harris won 54% of Cromwell’s 8,578 votes and President Donald J. Trump won 44%.
Cromwell Mayor James Demetriades, a Democrat, did not respond to requests for comment. Superintendent Enza Macri deferred comment to a local school board attorney, who also did not respond for comment Tuesday.
State Rep. Christie Carpino, R-Cromwell, said she only became aware of the investigation letter Tuesday when asked for comment by the Connecticut Mirror.
“I immediately contacted our superintendent of schools that received notification from federal authorities dated May 2. As a parent of a student athletes in our school system, and an elected representative of all my constituents in my communities, I take any investigation into potential violations of Title IX regulations extremely seriously,” she said in a written statement.
Carpino didn’t offer an opinion on whether students participating in sports that align with their gender identity violates Title IX. She also did not directly address whether she supported the investigation. “Any and all allegations of potential civil rights violations of students should be vigorously pursued,” Carpino wrote in response to questions.
The latest investigation follows several executive orders from President Donald J. Trump that have reshaped the federal Department of Education — particularly with respect to Title IX guidance and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination, was extended under former President Joe Biden to students who identify as LGBTQ+ and added protections for transgender students.
Connecticut reaffirmed those Title IX protections last year and said schools must treat all students equitably, regardless of their gender identity, in academic and extracurricular settings, even as a handful of other states sued the Biden administration for its Title IX expansion that extended protections to LGBTQ+ students.
After Trump took office in January, he reverted Title IX protections back to the 2020 guidance that was issued during his first administration. Under the new rules, the federal Education Department will enforce Title IX “on the basis of biological sex in schools and on campuses.”
Trump has also signed executive orders this year banning gender-affirming care for transgender youth under the age of 19, prohibiting transgender people from serving in the military, mandating the recognition of only two genders and calling for a pullback of federal funding for “illegal and discriminatory treatment and indoctrination in K-12 schools, including based on gender ideology and discriminatory equity ideology.”
In April, the federal department issued letters that called for an end diversity, equity and inclusion practices in K-12 schools and requested that state officials “certify their compliance with their anti-discrimination obligations in order to continue receiving federal financial assistance.”
Gov. Ned Lamont and Connecticut Education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker announced weeks later that the state responded to the request and would not sign it. Russell-Tucker wrote to the federal Education Department that Connecticut and state officials are already in compliance with federal anti-discrimination laws.
The Maine Department of Education was found noncompliant with Title IX protections in March after the state stood by its LGBTQ+ protections, including allowing transgender athletes to participate in sports. Maine remains in an ongoing battle with the Trump administration over its Title IX interpretation.
This story was originally published in the Connecticut Mirror.
