Conval's 'Boys In Girls Locker Rooms' Policy Sparks Fed Civil Rights Inquiry

By Damien Fisher, NH Journal

The U.S. Department of Education announced Tuesday it is investigating a potential civil rights violation by the Contoocook Valley School District for allowing boys in girls’ bathrooms — a policy the district acknowledges it has adopted.

The action comes less than two months after Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s second veto of legislation that would have restricted girls-only spaces to biological females.

“Young women should never feel unsafe or uncomfortable in their intimate spaces because their school leaders care more about gender ideology than protecting girls’ dignity and privacy,” said Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey. “Placing the burden on girls to move out of their own intimate spaces when there is a male present is not just absurd; it also discriminates against girls. The Trump administration will always stand up for these students, investigate disturbing complaints such as this fully, and enforce Title IX to ensure that women and girls are safe when they are at school.”

ConVal School Board Chair Michael Hoyt told NHJournal that he could not comment until he spoke with district officials about the complaint.

The issue began in the fall of 2024, when a parent contacted the district after learning an 11th-grade boy was using the same locker room as their ninth-grade daughter following gym class. The 16- to 17-year-old student was sharing the space with 14-year-old girls.

“My daughter has expressed discomfort with the presence of a biological male in her locker room, which has impacted her sense of privacy, safety, and security,” the parent wrote in a letter to ConVal.

Rather than require the male student to use a separate space, ConVal High School Principal Heather McKillop told the parent it would be discriminatory to do so. Instead, she suggested the girl use an alternative location, such as a bathroom stall.

“If your daughter is uncomfortable utilizing the locker room because of another student’s usage, we can accommodate her by allowing her to change elsewhere, but we cannot require that the other student change in a different location,” McKillop wrote.

McKillop said state law requires schools to allow students to use facilities that align with their gender identity.

That law would have been overturned last year if Ayotte had signed legislation passed by the GOP-controlled House and Senate. She vetoed a similar bill again in February.

“I vetoed a nearly identical bill to this one last year. I made it clear this issue needed to be addressed in a thoughtful, narrow way that protects the privacy, safety, and rights of all Granite Staters. Unfortunately, there is minimal difference between Senate Bill 268 and the bill I vetoed last year, which Gov. Sununu vetoed the year prior.”

Critics of Ayotte’s vetoes say this case reflects the concerns they raised and supports the federal investigation.

“As a state representative who has sponsored several pieces of legislation aimed at protecting women and children, I fully support the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights investigation into reports that the District allows biological males to use girls’ restrooms and locker rooms,” said Rep. Lisa Mazur (R-Goffstown).

“Title IX protects females from sex-based discrimination and long permitted separate facilities based on biological sex to ensure privacy and safety for girls. Allowing access based on ‘gender identity’ undermines those protections.”

The parent’s complaint was taken up by the conservative nonprofit Defending Education, which filed a formal notice with the Department of Education. According to Sarah Parshall Perry, vice president and legal fellow at Defending Education, district officials are violating federal law.

“ConVal School District is one of those federal funding recipients now in a standoff with the Department of Education. Openly professing to the adherence to contrary state anti-discrimination law on gender identity to flout federal directives on sex equality in education under Title IX has drawn the interest of the Department, and we are gratified that ConVal will now have to answer for its obvious ignorance of the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause,” Parshall Perry said in a statement.

The issue also has political implications. A July 2025 NHJournal/Praecones Analytica poll found Granite Staters supported the legislation Ayotte vetoed by a 65-21 percent margin.

The federal action may make the state debate moot. Earlier this week, the Department of Education announced it is suing Minnesota over the same “boys in girls’ spaces” policy.

“The state legislature has repeatedly tried to intercede on behalf of Granite State girls,” said state Sen. Victoria Sullivan (R-Manchester).

“This action signals a significant shift of policy from the federal government. They are sending a clear message to the state that if we don’t do our job, they will step in. It is time for the New Hampshire legislature to make our position perfectly clear: We will protect girls’ sports, spaces, and opportunities.”

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.