Updated at 5:48 p.m.
Vermont’s largest school district is being investigated under federal allegations that it has violated laws surrounding transgender student athletes’ participation in sports.
The Champlain Valley School District is among 18 entities in 10 states being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights “based on complaints submitted to OCR alleging that they have violated Title IX,” according to a press release issued by the department Wednesday.
“In the same week that the Supreme Court hears oral arguments on the future of Title IX, OCR is aggressively pursuing allegations of discrimination against women and girls by entities which reportedly allow males to compete in women’s sports,” Kimberly Richey, assistant secretary for the Office of Civil Rights, said in the release.
Title IX prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded education. Champlain Valley is the only Vermont school district named in the release.
The notification of the investigation and the following press release publicizing it was “highly disconcerting,” Superintendent Adam Bunting said. It did not give the district any time to communicate the information to the school community, particularly to students who might be feeling vulnerable, he said.
“Apparently, there was a complaint filed. Traditionally, the OCR would tell you what that complaint is. At this point, we’re unaware of what it is,” he said Thursday.
A memo Bunting put out after he received the notification Wednesday states the district was specifically targeted for “following a Vermont state policy that permits students to participate in sports and to access restrooms and locker rooms in accordance with a student’s gender identity.”
“I want to assure you and all of our students that we remain steadfast in our commitment to honoring the identities of every learner,” Bunting wrote in the memo.
While communication from the federal government and the Office of Civil Rights is not uncommon, a press release notifying the public about decisions pertaining to education is, Bunting said.
“We felt like it’s really important over the past 24 hours to reach out to our community and to be clear that we are here to support and uplift all of our students,” he said. “One of the core elements, I think, of any educational system, is around belonging. And that means that we need to see the identities of each and every learner that we have.”
The school district, which serves about 3,700 students in Charlotte, Hinesburg, Shelburne, St. George and Williston, was among the first in Vermont to craft a policy in 2023 affirming the rights of trans and gender nonconforming students.
“The Champlain Valley School District school board’s policies center on what’s best for our students and our community and are aligned with best practices and state guidance,” said Meghan Metzler, the school board chair, in an email. “We stand with our transgender and gender nonconforming students and are dedicated to all of our students’ success, growth and belonging.”
That policy was modified in 2025 in accordance with Vermont’s Public Accommodations Act. It removed references to former President Joe Biden’s Title IX accommodations, according to Bunting. Still, school systems following statewide guidelines seem to be in conflict with the Trump administration’s current rules, he added.
Earlier this year, the Department of Education reversed Biden-era protections for LGBTQ+ students to Trump’s 2020 Title IX rules on the basis of biological sex in schools and on campuses. But protections for LGBTQIA+ students remain enshrined in Vermont law and have not been diminished by federal action, the Vermont Agency of Education confirmed last year.
Champlain Valley’s updated guidelines allow transgender students to use their chosen names and pronouns in most cases, to use facilities according to their gender identity, and to participate in activities that align with their gender identity, according to the updated policy.
The U.S. Department of Education considers such policies a threat to “the safety and the equal opportunities of women in educational programs and activities,” according to the press release.
Bunting said it’s hard to pinpoint how many students identify as trans in the district. Identifiable student information is confidential per the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
The district is in the early stages of collecting information needed to respond to the federal investigation.
“We are absolutely committed to protecting the identity of our students. We also don’t feel that there’s anything that we have to hide,” Bunting said.
Student and advocacy groups are pushing back on what they see as further federal attacks on trans youth.
Aaliyah Wilburn, coordinator of culture for the student-run statewide nonprofit group Vermont Student Anti-Racism Network, said she believes everyone has a right to play sports.
“As a college athlete, when I’m on the field or court, I’m not thinking about another player’s sexual orientation or gender identity, I’m focused on how I can support my team, improve, and win. That should be the reality for most athletes. Sports are about teamwork, growth, and competition, not policing who someone is,” she said in an email.
The continuing debate over transgender athletes’ participation in sports is “a distraction” and “disconnected from reality,” according to a newsletter this week from the statewide LGBTQ+ youth nonprofit Outright Vermont.
“Transgender youth are not a talking point. They are real, brilliant, and amazing people” who deserve being supported and not attacked by adults politicizing the issue, Executive Director Dana Kaplan wrote.
There are very few transgender youth athletes nationwide and even fewer across individual states, he said, and they just want to “have a healthy outlet and participate in school sports alongside their peers.”
Meanwhile, Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark this week joined 11 others to sue the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for “unlawfully conditioning” federal health, education and research funding based on states’ agreement to discriminate against transgender people.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, refers to the federal government forcing compliance with a presidential executive order that “seeks to deny the existence of transgender people and impose rigid, unscientific definitions of sex in violation of state laws that protect transgender people from discrimination.”
“This is yet another illegal attack by the President and his administration on transgender people,” Clark said in a press release. “I will continue to stand with transgender Vermonters and use every tool available to defend their rights in our state. I also will continue to fight back against this Administration’s efforts to coerce public institutions into ideological submission.”
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated Aaliyah Wilburn’s last name.
