Jeffco Public Schools does not expect to make any significant policy changes in response to a flurry of federal executive orders dealing with issues of gender, history as well as diversity, equity and inclusion.

The Trump administration has campaigned to root out DEI programs across the federal government, often using federal dollars as leverage.  

School board members met with two of the district’s attorneys on Friday for a “Lunch and Learn,” framed as an informational workshop, rather than a decision-making meeting.

The discussion highlighted several executive actions under President Donald Trump. In just six months, Trump has issued 188 executive orders — nearly matching the total number former President Biden signed over four years. Trump had signed 220 executive orders in his first four years.

While executive orders do not automatically bind state and local school districts, the overall shift in federal policies — regarding DEI, immigration, gender identity and curriculum — could trickle down to Colorado schools through funding preconditions, court rulings or regulatory guidance.

Attorneys Emily Sloan and Jacquie Rich Fredericks, who discussed a few of the orders that could directly affect Jeffco in the future, said that the school district is not currently breaking any federal or state laws.

The federal orders deal with DEI programs, immigration enforcement, English as the country’s official language and “radical indoctrination” in schools.

The attorneys emphasized that Jeffco remains bound by Colorado laws, which provide explicit protections for LGBTQ+ students and employees and maintains “inclusive” standards in history and social studies curricula.

The lawyers, for example, talked about Title IX — a federal law enacted in 1972 that prohibits sex-based discrimination and which the Trump administration often brings up.

“We don’t believe any existing practices in Jeffco run afoul of federal anti-discrimination laws or state laws,” Sloan said. 

The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) announced in June that it is investigating the district for potential Title IX violations. The department claimed it heard “several disturbing” reports, including from parents of an 11-year-old girl who discovered their daughter would have had to share a bed with a male student on an overnight school trip without being notified by the school.

Sloan expects more inquiries from the Office for Civil Rights, but she didn’t specifically say in Jeffco.

On Thursday, the federal education department concluded that Denver Public Schools violated a federal civil rights law by converting a girls’ restroom at its flagship high school campus into an “all-gender” facility.

That bathroom’s conversion, along with permitting students at East High School to use facilities on the basis of “gender identity,” rather than their biological sex, violated Title IX’s prohibition against sex discrimination, the education department alleged. 

Looking ahead, Jeffco attorneys and board members are watching several flashpoints for possible changes, they said. These included the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court cases on transgender student participation in sports, ongoing litigation over executive orders and possible changes to state law that could either reinforce or conflict with federal priorities.