The Trump administration has terminated agreements with several US school districts aimed at upholding protections for trans students. The US Department of Education is removing such legal obligations from school districts in Delaware, Washington, and Pennsylvania, as well as two districts in California and a community college.

The agreements upheld policies such as inclusive restroom access and preferred pronoun usage. The change leaves the individual districts with the power to maintain or rescind the protections for their trans students. The board for Pennsylvania’s Delaware Valley School District has already unanimously decided to remove anti-discrimination policies for trans individuals. 

Trans protections were previously included within the Title IX civil rights law prohibiting sex-based discrimination, but the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights now claims that trans protections explicitly violate Title IX.

These reversals of trans protections come after Trump’s executive order restricting the government to only recognise sexes assigned at birth, heavily impeding the civil rights of trans, non-binary, and intersex Americans. The Trump administration’s attack on the rights of trans students has also manifested in other ways, including penalising schools, universities, and states for trans-inclusive policies regarding education and athletic involvement.

Not all affected school districts have rolled back their trans-inclusive efforts. According to a district spokesperson, “The Sacramento City Unified School District remains committed to the support of our LGBTQ+ students and staff.” Additionally, the school district is on track to complete an all-gender restroom project for all of its schools by July. However, threats from the government to end trans protections have district officials fearing federal funding cuts.

The former agreement with Sacramento City Unified School District was implemented by the Biden administration in 2024, and formally established misgendering as an act of sexual harassment in accordance with Title IX. 

The termination of agreements has coincided with the spring break of other affected school districts, leaving students and families unsure of their district’s plan for protecting the civil rights of their trans pupils.