The Sun Prairie Area School District failed to protect four freshman girls from being exposed to the genitals of an 18-year-old biological male — identifying as a transgender woman — who was showering in the girls’ locker room, according to a Milwaukee-based public service law firm.
In a letter to the woke Madison-area school district, the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) alleges the “alarming incident” in early March not only violated the girls’ privacy rights but district administrators’ “completely inadequate” response continues to put Sun Prairie students in further danger.
WILL is investigating the incident and the district’s response.
“School districts need to think through what loosening boundaries for single-sex spaces could mean for girls. Parents are understandably concerned about whether school districts — like the Sun Prairie Area School District – are doing everything required to protect girls in bathrooms and locker rooms,” said Libby Sobic, the law firm’s director of Education and Policy. “WILL is calling on the district to act promptly to restore a sense of safety and privacy in its schools.”
‘I’m Trans, by the Way’
According to WILL’s letter to the district’s board of education, the freshman girls were participating in a swimming unit at Sun Prairie’s East High School. They entered the girls’ athletic locker room to shower and change for class when they noted a senior male student standing at one of the lockers. WILL reports the student was 18 years old at the time of the incident and was not in the girls’ first-hour physical education class.
While the freshmen said they were surprised to see the senior in their locker room, “they had a general idea that this student identifies as transgender and has used girls’ bathrooms before,” the letter states.
“While they were uncomfortable, they proceeded to the shower area without interacting with the student.”
The girls entered the shower area with their swimsuits on, which was their common practice as they rinsed off, according to WILL. As they began to shower, the male student approached them, entered the shower area, announced “I’m trans, by the way,” and then undressed fully and showered completely naked right next to one of the girls.
“He was initially turned towards the wall but eventually turned and fully exposed his male genitalia to the four girls,” the letter states. “Understandably, the girls were caught off guard and shocked, closed their eyes, and tried to hurry up and leave the showers as quickly as possible.”
Feeling uncomfortable and unsure of what to do, the four freshmen did not immediately report the incident, according to the letter. One of the girls eventually confided in another student, who told them the incident should be reported. On March 6, the student (who was not with the girls) reported the incident to the high school’s students services department.
That began a series of missteps by district officials, according to WILL.
‘No One Investigated’
“Rather than informing the Title IX coordinator about this report of alleged sexual harassment, Associate Principal Heidi Walter asked for the names of the students involved, but the other student wanted to get permission from the girls first,” the letter to the school board states. “There is no indication anyone at EHS took any action at that time.”
A few days later, the other student told Walker she would provide the girls’ names, but the assistant principal said the four freshmen should approach her instead. Walter later admitted during a meeting with parents that she should have “dug deeper” at the time, the letter notes.
As WILL attorneys informed the school board, federal law demands that school officials should have immediately reported the incident to the school’s Title IX coordinator, who should have then contacted the girls, offered support, and provided them an opportunity to file a complaint.
Supportive measures might have included accommodations to maintain their access to education and adequate privacy in the locker room — at least while a Title IX investigation was pending, WILL advised the school board.
“No one from the District contacted any of the girls’ parents at that time, and no one investigated. To be clear, that means that the District’s initial response to this incident violated Title IX,” the letter states.
In the interim, one of the girls told her mother what had happened in the locker room and, on March 16, the parent emailed East High School Principal Renee Coleman and copied Sun Prairie Area School District Superintendent Brad Saron about her concerns. The parent also requested clarification about what the school was doing to address the situation, according to WILL.
“The principal called and apologized, but then obliquely reported that District policies address this situation and that she would have to speak with District staff who knew the details,” the letter states. No “policy” was identified, and no Title IX rights were mentioned, WILL attorneys wrote.
Ten days later, the principal responded to another email from a different parent. The principal, according to WILL, again did not identify any applicable policy, the Title IX processes, or what the high school had done to address the matter. An in-person meeting did not occur until a week later, despite repeated requests. It had been more than a month since the senior male (identifying as a trans woman) had showered in front of the freshman girls.
The girls’ parents wanted to know what the school’s policy was, how administrators allowed the incident to happen, and what the policy would be moving forward. None of the school officials at the meeting provided answers, except for referencing a “policy” that they did not identify, describe or bring to the meeting, the letter states.
“Frankly, the District social worker at the meeting appeared to be the only individual who put any effort into resolving the issue. She expressed a desire to meet with the girls, apologize, and to solicit their feedback on how the District can improve,” the attorneys wrote. “There was no indication that the District intends to address this matter in any way or change any policy.”
‘Precisely Backwards’
Finally, on April 10, the high school principal emailed one of the parents a copy of “Restroom and Locker Room Accessibility Guidance.” WILL asserts there is no indication that the policy has ever been in effect, was in effect on the day of the shower incident, or ever approved by the school board.
According to the letter, the principal apologized via email to the parent “for the incident that occurred,” reiterating that what the young high school girls experience “should not have happened.” Coleman wrote that “we will continue to work to ensure no one has a similar experience,” but she did not articulate any steps the school or district is taking to ensure the privacy and safety of students.
“Apologizing does not satisfy your District’s Title IX obligations,” the attorneys told the school board in the letter.
Under the guidance document, a “student who is transgender, nonbinary, or gender expansive will be permitted to access the men’s/women’s segregated restrooms in accordance with the student’s gender identity that the student regularly asserts at school and in other social environments.”
“Any student who has a need or desire for increased privacy, regardless of the underlying reason, may be provided with access to a single-access restroom where such a facility is reasonably available, but no student shall be required to use such a restroom because of the student’s transgender, nonbinary, or gender expansive status,” the policy states.
The guidance only suggests that if a biological male “makes any request regarding the use of locker rooms,” then district administrators will evaluate the request on a “case-by- case basis.”
“It is quite telling that, according to the guidance document, if biological girls desire more privacy, it is the girls who must leave and use a separate bathroom or locker room. This is precisely backwards,” the letter states.
The district’s publicly available “Locker Room Privacy” policy requires the school system to “observe measures intended to protect the privacy rights of individuals using school locker rooms.” Said policy must be “published annual in the student handbook and posted in each locker room of the District.” But the 2022–23 High School Handbook includes no mention of students’ privacy rights except for in the context of technology.
“The Board delegated the responsibility of enforcing the Locker Room Privacy policy to the building principal. Based on the delay by the District and the April 10 email from Principal Coleman, she apparently did not even know this Locker Room Privacy policy exists,” the letter states.
‘Wakeup Call’
As the law firm notes, Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs and activities. Under its regulations, sex discrimination encompasses sexual harassment, which includes unwelcome conduct on the basis of sex that is so severe that it effectively denies a person equal access to the education program.
“Here, four freshman girls taking a shower in their swimsuits in what is supposed to be a private and safe space, were exposed to the male genitals of a senior student against their will,” the letter to the school board asserts. “Considering student development, high school being a relatively new environment for freshman girls, the power dynamics between not only a biological male and female but between a senior and a freshman, and student safety, the age difference of the students here is relevant.”
The district failed to act promptly, and failed to follow its own policy regarding District Response to Alleged Sexual Harassment, the law firm alleges.
There’s one other important matter that WILL says merits attention. If the senior transgender student was 18 at the time of the incident — a fact that high school administrators would know –, there is a possible crime in play. An adult exposing his genitals to a child is a violation of sexual exploitation laws.
“This further demonstrates that the issue should have been properly responded to,” the letter states.
WILL advises the school board “take immediate action to protect the federal rights of all students.” That includes following Title IX law, offering victims supportive services and the opportunity to file a complaint and conduct investigations. Re-training staff, disciplining employees that have failed to protect students, and adjusting district policies and guidance documents also is in order. And the district should “adopt and publish Title IX procedures—as is already required—to ensure that all students know their rights when confronted with sex discrimination or sexual harassment.”
To aid in its investigation, WILL filed a request under Wisconsin’s open records law for emails, texts, messages, voicemails, and other communications sent or received by district administrators.
“Public schools have two basic jobs: educate our kids and keep them safe. All too often our schools can’t do either,” said Dan Lennington, WILL deputy counsel. “This is a wakeup call to all parents and taxpayers to become more informed about their local public school district and demand accountability.”
‘Inaccurate’
Sun Prairie Superintendent Brad Saron did not return a request for comment.
He did, however, send a letter to East High School families charging that a Fox News article on WILL’s allegations is inaccurate, that it doesn’t provide a complete account. The letter, WMTV in Madison reported, added that the district addressed the situation when it was originally notified and has implemented measures to ensure something similar does not happen again.
“Saron told parents, however, that student privacy laws prohibited the district from providing details about the incident. Therefore, the letter does not address specifically which parts of article, or the underlying claims, are not true,” the news outlet reported.
This isn’t the first time the woke southern Wisconsin school district has been accused of violating federal law or causing a stir with its far left policies. In February, WILL accused Sun Prairie schools of using American Family Insurance grant funds to promote programs that appear to be exclusively for black students. Lennington called it an attempt to launder race discrimination.
In January, The Wisconsin Daily Star reported that Sun Prairie Area School District was one of several public school systems included in their student resources TrevorSpace, a social networking site that critics say is little more than an online dating community putting kids as young as 13 at risk of sexual exploitation.
The Daily Star review of TrevorSpace found the site allows children and adults (strangers) to communicate directly while encouraging discussions of human sexuality, sexual attraction, and sexual fetishes.
And the district made headlines when its attorney sent the parent of a 6-year-old elementary school student a cease and desist letter for raising concerns about school Principal Kyle Walsh recording himself reading a transgender-themed book for students.
Sun Prairie Area School District attorney Lori Lubinsky directed the parent to refrain from any further communications that “state, imply or even suggest that Principal Walsh is engaging in ‘grooming’ and/or ‘disturbing’ activities, or stating or implying that he is and/or will be the next ‘SP Pedo staff member,’ the Sun Prairie Star reported.
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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
