As promised, we are back to highlight some of the developments from President Trump’s first two weeks back in office. On Inauguration Day, President Trump signed 26 executive orders and rescinded 78. Here are a few quick highlights of actions you should be aware of because they may impact schools.
On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order titled “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” This executive order states that the administrative agencies of the federal government must treat “sex” as binary: either male or female. It also instructs agencies of the federal government that civil rights laws related to sex discrimination cannot be expanded to apply to sexual orientation or gender identity. Essentially, this executive order seeks to undo the Biden administration's position on the applicability of sex discrimination laws to questions of gender identity. We anticipate the US Department of Education will be issuing more guidance on this topic in upcoming weeks, including how it impacts Title IX. Speaking of which…
OCR also issued a Dear Colleague Letter on January 31, 2025 available here clarifying OCR’s position on Title IX enforcement under the 2020 Title IX regulations instead of the 2024 Title IX regulations. It specifically mentioned the 2020 investigative process but said nothing about all of the related issues, like updating policies, handbooks, etc. We think schools should be patient before they make any sweeping changes to Title IX policies, training or practices. If you have a Title IX complaint come in over the next few months, call legal counsel before making promises or taking any next steps. The situation on this issue is so fluid, we don’t want schools to get caught in a vicious cycle of changing everything all the time. That’s not to mention the other executive orders mentioned in this article and state level bills and laws on issues like athletics participation. Instead, we are awaiting further developments and doing some deep thinking before we make our next substantive recommendations on Title IX.
Additionally, President Trump announced the executive order “Protecting the American People Against Invasion.” In this executive order, the administration pronounced that “sensitive locations” such as schools and churches are no longer outside the purview of ICE enforcement actions. We do not think ICE will raid a lot of schools, because there are not a lot of undocumented employees in school buildings. Nevertheless, schools should start thinking ahead about what to do if ICE does conduct raids in your community. Do you have a lot of students who would not have an adult to pick them up from school if ICE raids one of your community’s employers? Make a plan for what your protocol will be for those students. Reach out to members of immigrant communities within your district and offer to connect them with resources for executing temporary guardianships for children who might be left without parents in the short term. As a reminder, a student’s immigration status has no effect on the student’s ability or access to attend school, even if President Trump successfully revokes birthright citizenship. The 1982 Supreme Court Decision of Plyler v. Doe requires schools to educate all students in their communities regardless of immigration status. 457 U.S. 202 (1982). If you are interested in more information regarding this topic, a webinar recording hosted by the Center for Immigrant and Refugee Advancement is available here with password .gKqH@&4. We want to thank CIRA for graciously agreeing to allow KSB to share this resource.
On January 30, President Trump issued the executive order “Ending Radical Indoctriniation in K-12 Schooling.” Essentially, this order says federal funding will be cut to schools that teach “discriminatory equity ideology” (AKA critical race theory) and “gender ideology.” It also reinstates Trump’s 1776 Commission to promote “patriotic education.” We don’t believe many midwest schools are at risk under this order, but you should call your school attorney if you are worried. However, you should be ready to assure any concerned member of the public that your district is complying with this order.
Schools should also be aware that President Trump issued an executive order disbanding resources and guidance related to diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI). In the executive order “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” the Department of Labor was ordered to cease promoting diversity, enforcing affirmative action, and encouraging federal contractors to engage in preferential treatment based on consideration of race, color, sex, sexual preference, religion, or national origin. Every federal contractor for a grant award must now include a term certifying the contractor will not operate any programs related to DEI. We’ll likely be following up on this during policy updating season to determine if it will affect any federal procurement policy requirements.
If political fodder brings you joy, you can also read the list of executive orders President Trump rescinded here. In line with President Trump’s campaign platform, the Office of Civil Rights recently announced its dismissal of eleven complaints related to “book bans.” As of January 24, 2025, OCR has “rescinded all department guidance issued under the theory that a school district’s removal of age-inappropriate books from its libraries may violate civil rights laws.” Keep in mind there are court cases out there that make this analysis more complicated than a “do what you think best” approach. There are First Amendment and other implications, but we feel most boards have already wrestled with it by adopting some kind of policy or process for review of library materials.
We know that it seems like there are a lot of edicts being issued every day, but the fundamental work of teaching students and serving your school communities remains unchanged. We will monitor developments and let you know when you need to take some action. Resist the urge to let agitated news reports (from any part of the political spectrum) prompt your district to take precipitous action. Please reach out to us at ksb@ksbschoollaw.com or 402-804-8000 or your school’s attorney if you have any questions about these executive orders and their impact on schools.