The Foxborough school district is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education over policies that allow transgender students to participate in sports.
The DOE announced Wednesday that it is beginning investigations into 18 colleges and school districts across the country. Five New England school districts are on the list, including Waterbury Public Schools in Connecticut, Champlain Valley School District in Hinesburg, Vermont, Regional Unit 19 in Maine and Regional Unit 57 in Maine.
Foxborough is the only Massachusetts school district being investigated.
In a statement, DOE officials said the investigations stem from complaints that the schools violated Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in education programs and activities that receive federal funding.
The DOE did not release details or specific complaints about any of the schools.
Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey attempted to frame the investigations as “discrimination against women and girls.”
“The Trump Administration has made its position clear: violations of women’s rights, dignity, and fairness are unacceptable,” Richey said in a statement. “We will leave no stone unturned in these investigations to uphold women’s right to equal access in education programs.”
One Massachusetts school, Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School, has forfeited field hockey games against teams that feature a male on a girls’ team, according to The Sun Chronicle.
The state’s governing body for high school sports, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, allows boys to play on girls’ teams if their school does not offer a boys’ team in that sport.
The MIAA also has a rule allowing trans athletes to participate in sports that align with their preferred gender: “A student shall not be excluded from participation on a gender-specific sports team that is consistent with the student’s bona fide gender identity,” the rule reads.
Foxborough school superintendent Amy Berdos told The Sun Chronicle that the district “follows state law and guidance concerning gender identity discrimination” in school athletics.
“Pursuant to state law and guidance, schools may not discriminate against student-athletes on the basis of gender identity,” she said.