The US DoE's Office of Civil Rights yesterday announced that Dorchester County School District Two in South Carolina has entered into a voluntary agreement to stop discriminating against a transgender elementary school student. THE OCR had found that the district was in violation of Title IX's prohibition on sex-based discrimination.

I commend Dorchester County School District Two for committing to protect the civil rights of all students and ensuring that all students have equal access to education programs and activities.

--Catherine E. Lhamon, assistant secretary for civil rights

OCR concluded that the district violated Title IX because the female transgender student was not given access to the girls’ bathroom as a result of her transgender status. However, OCR determined that the district’s policies and procedures complied with Title IX.

The district has now agreed to do the following:

You'll note that, despite the many articles on this from various media sources, nowhere does it state that the student can use "whatever bathroom she chooses."

The student's parent had filed a complaint the the OCR last fall, claiming that the district was discriminating against her daughter by banning her from using girl's facilities, which embarrassed her and forced her to separate from her friends.

We’re not a cookie-cutter system and we try to accommodate students the best we can to set them up to be successful in school. As a school district, we want to be compliant with federal law, and first and foremost, we want to meet the needs of our children.

--District 2 Assistant Superintendent Linda Huffman

This agreement should provide school districts incentive to revise their policies and otherwise treat transgender students equally. Otherwise they risk not only a Department of Education involvement but also private lawsuits.

If schools are wanting the federal government to stay away, they should change their policies now so they’re not put in a position to be ordered to and forced to change their policies and have this oversight.

--Beth Littrell, Lambda Legal

Not everybody is happy.

I don’t have anything against transgender children, special-ed children. I don’t have anything (against any child). It’s just a matter of whether we’re going to conform to everybody every time?

If a child walks in tomorrow and wants to be a dog, can they be a dog, too?

--Barbara Crosby, District 2 school board member

The agreement will help make district schools safer for students like my daughter. The settlement also will go a long way toward eradicating a culture of fear and misunderstanding around lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues.

I think Dorchester District 2 has the opportunity to lead the way here in the tri-county area on how to become an inclusive school to provide an excellent academic and social experience for all of their children, especially their most vulnerable. There is so much evidence that backs up that these kids are so vulnerable and if anyone is in danger of being physically or emotionally harmed, it’s them.

--Dedra Scherer, teacher at Fort Dorchester High School and mother of a transgender child