Minnesota leadership faces calls from schools to protect girls' sports as Trump's Title IX deadline looms

A former Minnesota high school girls' softball player opened up about losing to a transgender pitcher in the state tournament and how the declining safety of the state has caused her and her family fear.

Minnesota's education agencies face a deadline Friday from the U.S. Department of Education to change its trans athlete policies. Now, more than 40 school board members from districts across the state have now openly supported complying with the DOE as the deadline nears. 

The school board members penned a letter to state leaders in Saint Paul earlier this week – Education Commissioner Willie Jett, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and executive director of the Minnesota State High School League Erich Martens – urging them to comply with President Donald Trump's administration on the issue. 

"How are we protecting all students in our district. So, whether it’s in the locker rooms or on the playing field," wrote Lisa Atkinson, a member of the Prior Lake Savage Area Schools Board. "As school districts, we cannot risk the loss in funding. It’s really that important to us. This is an opportunity for our state to figure out a way to put in policies that really protect all students."

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The sun shines on the Minnesota State Capitol on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024, in St. Paul, on the opening day of the 2024 session of the Minnesota Legislature.  (AP Photo/Steve Karnowski)

The board members also expressed anxiety over federal funding cuts "that would adversely affect educational programs, extracurricular activities and resources for over 875,000 students statewide." 

Trump's Feb. 5 "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order states that schools who allow biological