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Teachers and residents urge Winthrop School Board to pause transgender sports policy over legal and budget concerns
Summary
Several teachers, parents and residents told the Winthrop School Board the proposed policy changes that would bar transgender females from girls' sports risk violating Title IX and the Maine Human Rights Act, could prompt lawsuits and strain district finances, and asked the board to delay changes.
Multiple public commenters asked the Winthrop School Board to halt or rescind proposed changes to policy JB that they said would exclude transgender females from girls' sports teams.
"What I observed was the behavior of 3 members trying to voice their belief system on others by creating a nonexistent problem," said Elizabeth Peters, building representative for the Winthrop Education Association and an ELA teacher at Winthrop Middle School, addressing the board during public comment. Peters told the board she had been provided signed letters from middle-school staff, said no transgender student in the last 12 years had sought to play on girls' teams, and warned the policy would "set the school system and by default, the town at risk of a lawsuit for discrimination."
Whitney Khan, a Winthrop resident, asked the board whether it had completed the fiscal analysis required by Policy BGR for changes to JB and pressed for details on expected legal costs. Khan cited a district disclosure that the legal-insurance collective cap shared across districts in the MHRC lawsuit is $250,000 and asked, "What is your estimate of the cost to defend an MHRC lawsuit and what line item in the budget currently covers it?" She noted a 2014 Maine Supreme Judicial Court decision, Doe v. RSU 26, that resulted in a $75,000 penalty in a related case and raised the possibility insurers could deny coverage for intentional-discrimination claims.
A third commenter reading on behalf of Kat Hoye requested open documentation of which Winthrop Public Schools policies are being revised, which outside consultants or firms the district has contacted about policy changes, how much the district has paid to date, and what has been budgeted for legal fees in fiscal years 2025–26 and 2026–27. The reader said outside groups have contacted other districts offering to assist with litigation.
Board members did not debate the policy during the public-comment segment; the chair closed public comment and moved on to superintendent and other reports.
