Wyndham board declines immediate vote to remove Maine Human Rights Act wording; public urges protection of girls' sports

Wyndham Raymond School District board members declined on Oct. 15 to add an immediate vote to remove Maine Human Rights Act wording from district policies and revert to Title IX–only language after a large public comment period urging the change.

The meeting at Jordan Small Middle School included a public-input block in which residents urged the board to “protect girls' sports and spaces.” Alan Sarvinas, who identified himself as a Topsum resident, told the board that "you have an opportunity to stick up for girls, their sports, and their spaces," and said some other districts had recently passed similar resolutions.

Why it matters: supporters said the change would protect female athletes' competitive fairness and privacy in locker rooms and bathrooms; board members said the issue is legally complex and that the district has already adjusted policy language to provide complaint pathways under both state and federal law.

Public comments: Several speakers urged immediate policy changes. Jamie Lipman of Wyndham said, “Just allow them to have their sports. Do not force females to have to compete with gentlemen,” while Frank Emery said, “No boys in the girls locker rooms or the bathrooms.” Kathleen March, identifying herself as a mother of two transgender children, spoke about the maturity of adolescents and urged the board to ‘‘think about where a lot of this stuff comes from and make a decision in the best interest going forward.” Destiny Johnson, who said she is running for school board, urged the board to “take a proactive approach in enforcing all aspects of Title 9.” Debbie Gervasi described her personal experience as a former athlete and said she was “mad” for the current generation of girls.

Board action and discussion: Board member Jenny (full name not specified in the transcript) moved to add to the agenda “a motion that would remove the Maine Human Rights Act wording from our policies so that there is just clear Title IX wording in our policies.” Caitlin Downs seconded the motion. After a roll-call/weighted-vote check, Chairwoman Christina Small said the motion failed on a weighted vote.

Board member Joe (first name only in the transcript) explained the district’s current approach: he said the policy was revised after the federal Title IX guidance changed and a related court decision, and that the district now provides two complaint pathways — one under the Maine Human Rights Act and one under Title IX — so individuals have clear instructions for either process. Joe said the district’s policy “was clarified, and it was bifurcated. We provide a pathway for students, staff, teachers to make complaints under the Maine Human Rights Act” and separately for Title IX complaints.

Board member Jody Carroll warned that the legal situation is “very difficult” because complying with one law can appear to conflict with another. Chairwoman Christina Small said she voted against adding the item to the agenda not because the topic is unimportant but because adding items without notice limits public participation; she offered to place the subject on a future agenda so the community would have notice and opportunity to attend.

Follow-up and direction: After the failed motion, several board members said they supported scheduling the topic for a future meeting with public notice and opportunity for fuller discussion. The board did not adopt any policy change tonight; members characterized the outcome as a direction to return the item for a future agenda rather than a decision on policy content.

Quotes are taken verbatim from the meeting transcript; attributions are to participants listed by name in the transcript.