Center Cass School District 66 has responded to its inclusion in a U.S. Department of Justice investigation over policies related to gender and sexuality.
The federal agency says it is investigating dozens of Illinois school districts – including several in northern Illinois – over how they handle lessons related to sexual orientation and gender identity, and whether parents are being notified of opt-out rights.
The inquiries, announced by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, target 36 public school systems across the state.
Specifically, the department is looking into how and if the school districts teach about gender and sexuality and potentially into what parent opt-outs are in place, whether bathrooms and locker rooms are single-sex-only, and whether access to girls’ sports teams is limited “based on biological sex,” according to a Thursday news release from the Department of Justice.
The Downers Grove-based school district said it received a letter via email from the Department of Justice on Thursday saying the district had been been selected for a compliance review.
“Nowhere in the letter does it state that Center Cass is accused of any violation. The letter closes by saying the Department of Justice will send us another correspondence in the weeks to come, requesting what they need for the review,” the district said in its response, which was posted to its website.
“As a public school district in Illinois, Center Cass is accustomed to local, state and federal compliance reviews. Center Cass takes all matters concerning student rights, safety and well-being with the utmost seriousness.
“Center Cass firmly believes in the integrity of its policies, practices and staff, and is confident in its ongoing commitment to providing a safe, inclusive and equitable learning environment for all students. We are also confident that our instructional and student practices are in full compliance with state and federal law and court precedents,” according to the response.
The response added that the district has met Title IX requirements and will fully cooperate with the review process.
Center Cass District 66 includes Lakeview Junior High School and Prairieview Elementary School in Downers Grove and Elizabeth Ide Elementary School in Darien.
According to the DOJ’s news release, it was launching the probe of the Illinois school systems to “determine whether they have included sexual orientation and gender ideology (SOGI) content in any class for grades pre-K-12.”
If it’s determined districts are teaching such content, the investigations will then expand to “whether the schools have notified parents of their right to opt their children out of such instruction,” as well as whether districts “limit access to single-sex intimate spaces [such as bathrooms and locker rooms] and girls’ sports teams based on biological sex.”
In the release, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said the division is focused on ensuring parents are not “kept in the dark” about classroom instruction and that schools follow federal law, including Title IX.
The Justice Department emphasized that the investigations are preliminary and that no findings have been made.
Other Chicago-area districts named as subjects of an investigation include Crystal Lake-based Community High District 155, Country Club Hills School District 160, Crete-Monee School District 201-U, Elmwood Park Community Unit School District 401, Leyden Community High School District 212, Lyons School District 103, North Chicago Community Unit School District 187, North Palos School District 117, Oak Lawn-Hometown School District 123 and Thornton Fractional Township High School District 215.