Case 3:17-cv-00739-TJC-JBT Document 192 Filed 07/26/18 Page 19 of 70 PageID 10697
disagreed with that guidance and intended to continue following its long-standing bathroom policy as supplemented by the Best Practices Guidelines, which it believed to be lawful and provided a reasonable accommodation. Doc. 162 at Tr. 75–78. In February 2017, the Departments of Education and Justice withdrew the 2016 Guidance, explaining that it had not undergone any formal public process and had been issued without extensive legal analysis or explanation as to how it was consistent with Title IX. Doc. 152, Def. Ex. 237.
Incorporating both the long-standing unwritten School Board bathroom policy and the Best Practices Guidelines, the current policy in St. Johns County public schools for grades four and up is that “biological boys” may only use boys’ restrooms or gender-neutral single-stall bathrooms and “biological girls” may only use girls’ restrooms or gender-neutral single-stall bathrooms, with the terms “biological boys” and “biological girls” being defined by the student’s sex assigned at birth, as reflected on the student’s enrollment documents.[1] Doc. 162 at Tr. 45–46, 62, 71; Doc. 161 at
- ↑ Although the Best Practices Guidelines supplement the earlier policy by providing a gender-neutral single-stall bathroom option, the policy that only “biological boys” may use the boys’ restroom and that only “biological girls” may use the girls’ restroom is not written anywhere. The Court had questions about whether it had been adopted as the official policy of the School Board, such that the challenge to it created a ripe controversy requiring decision by a federal court. At the Court’s direction, the parties filed supplemental briefs on the issue after trial and the School Board Chair affirmed that the School Board policy prohibits Adams from using the boys’ bathrooms at Nease High School. See Docs. 159, 172, 174, 178, 184 at Tr. 6–13. The Court is satisfied that this matter presents a real and substantial controversy that is ripe for juridical review. See Nat’l Adv. Co. v. City of Miami, 402 F.3d 1335, 1338–39 (11th
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