South Central Reporter

Macoupin County GOP Precinct Committeeman Christopher Hicks is urging Illinois school districts to take immediate action to protect students' privacy and comply with Title IX following a series of investigations launched by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR). 

The investigations, which focus on the Illinois Department of Education, Chicago Public Schools District 299 and Deerfield Public Schools District 109, stem from complaints that girls were pressured to share locker rooms with a male student who identifies as female, raising concerns about potential violations of the federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in educational settings.

"Title IX is very important in protecting the privacy of students in locker rooms of local schools," Hicks, a former state representative and state senate candidate, told the South Central Reporter. "I do not agree with the Biden administration adding transgender and non-binary individuals, and I applaud the Trump administration taking steps to roll back a large majority of the protections for transgender and non-binary individuals the Biden administration put in place through executive orders."

The controversy erupted when a parent, Nicole Georgas, testified at a District 109 School Board meeting on March 13, revealing how her 13-year-old daughter and other female students at Shepard Middle School in Deerfield were allegedly pressured by administrators to undress in front of a male student who identifies as female. 

Georgas later filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice, calling for separate facilities for biological males and females in schools.

“It is utterly disturbing and appalling that any school official(s) or administrator(s) would forcibly harass any student who objects to sharing intimate spaces with the opposite sex,” Hicks said. “Furthermore, if I were a parent and my child told me this occurred, guaranteed I would be at the school demanding answers face to face immediately.”

Hicks also emphasized the need for schools to follow federal guidelines to avoid losing federal funding, citing the Trump administration’s executive order defining sex as a person's biological sex at conception. 

He stressed that the rule prohibits changes to an individual’s sex, countering the Biden administration’s executive orders that recognized self-assessed gender identity. 

“In order to remain compliant and mitigate any loss of federal funding, local schools need to take Title IX seriously,” Hicks said. "It is very cut and dry what would constitute a violation...Simply put; follow the rules or face the consequences."

As the OCR investigations continue, Hicks reiterated his stance that local school boards must act swiftly to ensure the privacy and dignity of all students. 

"School boards need to be taking every step possible to protect student privacy and dignity," he said. "It is obvious that students do not feel comfortable sharing intimate spaces, such as locker rooms, with students who are not of the same biological sex. It is very simple; if you were born a male you use the male facilities, if you were born female you use the female facilities."