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Public commenters urge district to comply with recent executive orders on DEI and keep girls' sports for biological females
Summary
Four members of the public urged the Brainerd School Board to remove diversity, equity and inclusion programming, to follow recent executive orders on sex and to limit female sports participation to biological females; board members accepted the comments during public input but did not take formal action.
Several members of the public used the board’s public input period to urge the Brainerd School Board to change district practices related to diversity, equity and inclusion, student surveys and eligibility in girls’ sports, citing recent presidential executive orders and federal civil-rights statutes.
Rachel Cohn told the board she wanted to “review a few of President Trump's executive orders” and said the orders establish two principles: that some DEI programs constitute illegal discrimination and that the United States “recognizes two sexes, male and female.” Cohn said the orders require the Office for Civil Rights to enforce Title VI and Title IX and suggested parents could file complaints if they believed district materials promoted gender ideology.
Mark Olson told the board he believes the district is out of compliance with Title VI and Title IX, said district debt and federal funding levels are concerns and asked whether the equity task force still exists. “If these items and many more are not cleaned up properly, the U.S. Department of Education, the Office for Civil Rights may be coming to District 181,” Olson said.
Tom Coette said he hopes the district will “comply with this executive order to the letter of the law” and urged the board to prevent biological males from competing in girls’ sports. “Please consider my request and do what you know is right in this matter,” Coette said.
Doug Kern offered remarks thanking the district for partnering with a local nonprofit, then used an analogy to argue against allowing males to compete in women's sports, saying “So when you put lipstick on something or you change something, it still technically is a male.”
Board members accepted the comments during the public input portion; the record does not show the board took any formal action or adopted a policy in response during the meeting.
