Elementary and middle school transgender students have been denied the ability to join a sports team aligning with their gender identity in the Kyrene School District.

In March 2022, Gov. Doug Ducey signed Senate Bill 1165, commonly known as the “Save the Women’s Sports Act”, which was sponsored by Republican members of the Arizona State Legislature.

This bill requires each school district’s interscholastic and intramural sports to assign student athletes to a team that aligns with their biological sex regardless of a students prefered gender identity.

“I signed S.B. 1138 and S.B. 1165, legislation to protect participation and fairness for female athletes, and to ensure that individuals undergoing irreversible gender reassignment surgery are of adult age,”Ducey said in a letter upon signing the legislation. 

Students will be assigned either “Men” or “Boys” for males, “Women” or “Girls” for females, and “Coed” or “Mixed” effective Sept. 24.

The Kyrene School District held a governing board meeting recently to discuss several legislative bills and how to implement them.

The district described the proposed policy enforcing the legislation as “JJIB – Interscholastic Sports”.

Prior to the board's discussion of JJIB, members of the board expressed their concern with new policies introduced that they believe have “negative impacts” on students.

Kyrene School Board member Wanda Kolomyjec started the first read of policy JJIB with a statement opposing the bill and amid Suicide Prevention Month.

“We are concerned about suicide,” she said. 

In 2020, A Trevor Project annual National Survey concluded that 52% of transgender and nonbinary youth in the U.S seriously contemplated suicide.

“We are sitting up here and making sure these children feel they don’t belong in this community with this policy,” Kolomyjec continued.

Under Title XV of the Arizona Revised Statutes, school districts are required to comply and adopt any law enacted by state legislatures even if not agreed upon.

“This is not where we are, this is where they are,” Governing Board Member Michelle Fahy said, referring to the legislature. 

During the public comment period, Molly Donnelly shared her experience as a mother of a transgender child and conveyed her distress at the policy being implemented in schools.

“What do you do with this paper, now that you don’t have equity in this district anymore?” Donnelly asked, holding up the district’s equity policy. 

After the meeting, Donnelly was asked about her initial thoughts on the bill. 

“I already can’t stand this legislature, so it was just another thing,” she said. 

The bill overrides the Kyrene Athletic Program Guidelines of 2021-2022 that recognizes the individual gender identity of students and allows them to choose their desired team.

S.B. 1165 allows anybody to sue the district if they believe the law is being violated which Board President Kevin Walsh says is “atypical” to give a private right of action. However, a student who is “deprived of an athletic opportunity or suffers direct or indirect harm,” may litigate the school for “psychological, emotional, or physical,” damages if the school is in violation of this section.

“I think the bigger risk is not whether [students] comply, but whether or not we’re depriving them of an opportunity to participate in athletics.” Walsh said.

The board finalized the section by approving the first read of policy JJIB but did not adopt the policy to allow more time to discuss.

The Tempe Elementary School District is reviewing the new policy relating to S.B. 1165 and plan to implement it in the near future as other local districts follow.

The Kyrene Governing Board says it hopes to rewrite its policy to ensure that the district's policy adheres to state law even when state law is contrary to the district's beliefs.

Editor's note: Garza is a student at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University.