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Visitor warns board that bathroom policy could risk federal funding; board heard public comment
Summary
A member of the public told the Rockville Centre Board that permitting opposite-sex use of sex-segregated bathrooms risks federal action and cited federal letters, an executive order and litigation; the comments were delivered during the public comment period and not debated by the board at the meeting.
A member of the public told the Rockville Centre Board on Feb. 6 that the district's restroom practices could jeopardize federal funding, urging the board to review federal guidance and litigation.
William Cooney, who identified his address to the board, said the district's practice of allowing students to use bathrooms of the opposite biological sex is inconsistent with New York law as he interprets it and may place federal funding at risk. Cooney cited a federal executive order and letters from the U.S. Department of Education and referenced the federal case Tennessee v. Cardona as precedent. He said, "It is a federal question giving jurisdiction to federal court," and warned that "$8,600,000,000 in federal funding to New York State is at stake," attributing that figure in his remarks.
Cooney also urged the board to review a request by the legal group America First Legal that asked the U.S. Department of Education to investigate several Virginia school districts. He characterized certain federal guidance as unlawful and asserted that the district's accommodations currently put it on a potential collision course with federal authorities.
The comment was delivered during the meeting's public comment period. Board members did not debate or act on the points during the meeting; the remarks were recorded as public comment and not adopted as district policy.
