Trump admin starts Cabarrus Title IX probe over trans student bathroom use
The U.S. Department of Education has opened a Title IX investigation into Cabarrus County Schools following complaints about the district’s handling of transgender students’ access to bathrooms and locker rooms.
The investigation, announced Monday by the department’s Office for Civil Rights, comes after months of heated debate in Cabarrus County, where parents, elected officials and community members have repeatedly clashed over whether the school district should adopt a policy restricting transgender students from using bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity. Federal officials announced the inquiry as part of a broader celebration of “Title IX Month” that the department said would highlight the Trump administration’s efforts to protect opportunities and privacy rights for women and girls.
“Today’s investigation demonstrates that the Trump Administration will not stop pursuing Districts that reportedly subject our women and girls to egregious violations of their privacy and safety,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said in the release. “Under the Trump Administration, no woman or girl will have to fight alone to secure her basic protections, and we will not relent until Title IX is restored to the fullest extent of the law.”
Federal officials said the inquiry will examine allegations that the district allowed transgender students to access girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms and whether those actions violated federal civil rights protections. The investigation places a national spotlight on a local controversy that has dominated public meetings in Cabarrus County this spring, drawing dozens of speakers to school board and county commission meetings and generating extensive discussion on social media.
Officials have not said how many students are involved, including how many transgender students have sought accommodations related to bathroom or locker-room access and how many students have complained about such accommodations.
The Charlotte Observer has contacted Cabarrus County Schools for comment.
Title IX is the federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools and educational programs that receive federal funding. Investigations by the Office for Civil Rights can result in findings requiring policy changes or corrective actions.
At an April Cabarrus County Board of Education meeting, some parents and students argued that a policy barring transgender students from using bathrooms that do not correspond with their assigned sex at birth was necessary to protect privacy and safety for female students.
In response, school board attorney William Isenhour said Cabarrus County Schools must comply with federal law and court rulings. He cited the August 2020 Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision in Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board, which held that policies requiring transgender students to use bathrooms corresponding only with their sex assigned at birth violate Title IX and constitutional protections. He said the district does not maintain a separate bathroom policy and instead addresses situations on a case-by-case basis while attempting to comply with applicable law.
That interpretation differs from the one outlined by the U.S. Department of Education in Monday’s announcement. Federal officials said the Trump administration has abandoned the Biden administration’s approach to Title IX and returned to enforcing the law based on biological sex, arguing that doing so restores the statute’s “original intent” and protections for women and girls.
The debate has quickly spread beyond the school board.
Days after the April school board meeting, Cabarrus County commissioners publicly weighed in on the issue. Commission Chair Laura Blackwell Lindsey referenced parents who spoke and voiced support for students who opposed sharing bathrooms with transgender classmates.
“Girls have every right to feel comfortable using female locker rooms and bathrooms,” Lindsey said. “The five commissioners on this board, we see you, we support you, and we will stand for you.”
All five commissioners then stood together.
The moment drew praise and criticism from residents, with some speakers arguing commissioners were standing up for female students while others said transgender students were being singled out.
The issue also drew the attention of Rep. Addison McDowell, a Republican whose congressional district includes portions of Cabarrus County.
In a May 7 letter to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, McDowell urged federal officials to review the district’s practices. The congressman wrote that a parent filed a complaint alleging the school system violated her daughter’s civil rights under Title IX by allowing transgender students to use girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms.
“As you know, Title IX was established to preserve equal opportunities for women in education programs, activities, and privacy in facilities,” McDowell wrote. “These policies protecting female students are not merely ‘best practices.’ They are enforceable laws.”
The Department of Education did not cite McDowell’s letter in its announcement, but the investigation follows the congressman’s request and months of local advocacy on both sides of the issue.
Reacting to news of the investigation Monday, U.S. Rep. Mark Harris, a Charlotte-area Republican, praised the Education Department’s decision to review the district’s practices.
“When students walk through the doors of their school, the last thing they should have to worry about is their safety in bathrooms and locker rooms,” Harris said in a statement. “I will continue standing up for the young women in my district and fighting to ensure their civil rights are upheld.”
The Cabarrus school board discussed bathroom conduct on Monday — though in a different context.
Board member Melanie Freeman requested a discussion about bathroom policies generally, citing concerns about vaping, bullying and student supervision in school bathrooms. Superintendent John Kopicki pushed back on the notion that bathrooms represent a widespread safety problem, saying bathroom-related incidents account for roughly 2% of disciplinary referrals districtwide and that administrators have not reported significant concerns.
The Cabarrus investigation is the latest in a series of Title IX actions pursued by the Trump administration. In recent months, the Education Department has moved to terminate federal education funding for Maine, placed five Northern Virginia school districts on “high-risk” federal grant status and referred education agencies in Minnesota and California to the U.S. Department of Justice after disputes over the department’s interpretation and enforcement of Title IX, according to the news release.
The Department of Education did not specify a timeline for the investigation’s completion.
This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 12:36 PM with the headline "Trump admin starts Cabarrus Title IX probe over trans student bathroom use."
