Last year, on April 10, 2024, a new version of Title IX was announced which redefined what can be labeled as sex discrimination. The Department of Education gave schools four months to fall into line with the changes. While the original version from 1972 was put in place to give women equal opportunity, the 2024 version sought to give protections based on gender identity, sexual orientation, expression, and so on. The result of the new definition was a complete undoing of the intent of the original by taking away girls' bathroom privacy and their right to fair competition in sports.
Boys also were affected, with the Biden version permitting girls to use their restrooms and locker rooms.
And if the Title IX move by the federal government wasn’t enough, Michigan also had in place the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, which Governor Whitmer signed in 2023 and similarly includes protections for gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, and more.
As the deadline approached for schools to implement the changes, the realization of what was at stake intensified.
Parents crowded into school board meetings desperate to have board members take a stand and protect the rights of their daughters.
But with pressure from both the federal and state governments, many school boards rewrote their sexual discrimination policies to allow biological males into all the private spaces formerly restricted to girls and biological girls into all the private spaces formerly restricted to boys.
An organization called Moms for Liberty seemed to save the day by filing a lawsuit against the Biden Department of Education to halt the enforcement of the Title IX revisions. Informed parents could elect to add their school to the lawsuit, giving their school boards a shield for standing against the 2024 changes. Several schools across Ottawa County were added to the suit thanks to parents taking initiative.
Here we are a year later.
The Trump Administration has taken back the reigns.
One of the many Presidential Actions put through on Trump’s first day in office was Defending Women from Gender Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government. On February 4, 2025, The US Department of Education put out a “Dear Colleague Letter,” explaining that it will enforce the provisions under the 2020 version of Title IX, and those of 2024 Title IX would be null and void. The 2020 version of Title IX is closer to the original, adding a provision of protection from sexual harassment that is not only severe and pervasive, but also objectively offensive.
Last month Jenison and Byron Center Public Schools simply and quietly reverted to the 2020 Title IX.
Where were all the parents from last summer and fall who had filled the board rooms and given passionate public comments? Where were the headlines? The school boards finally had done what months ago many parents had asked them to do. And yet, at the March meeting when the Jenison and Byron Center boards voted unanimously to go back to 2020 Title IX, there was no fanfare, no public comment on the topic, and barely anyone was in attendance.
Celebrate good times, come on!
President Trump is accomplishing what local parents couldn’t. He’s threatening federal funding to get schools to listen. While he has their attention, he’s working to dredge the woke ideology out of the policies, the curriculum, and off the bookshelves. It won’t be easy to get the aftermath out of every nook and cranny, however. Fortunately there’s a form. Think of it like silent observer, where you can inform the US Department of Education of violations that remain. If you spot lingering effects from 2024 Title IX and DEI in your school, you can report what you see.
And, whether you have kids in the schools or not, let board members who are trying to do the right thing know you stand with them and care what happens in your community.
Getting 2024 Title IX out of the schools has been a difficult battle and is a triumph that needs to be celebrated—especially by parents who fought so hard to have it removed.
With President Trump at the helm, we have a gale force wind in our sails. Hold on tight.
Together we can take back our schools.
Krista Yetzke is a native of Ottawa County. A jeep-driving, guitar-playing wife, mom, and everyday adventurer, Krista was raised on the love of Jesus, the great outdoors, the arts, the value of frugality, and the beauty of food as medicine.
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