A progressive Maine law firm that represents several school districts throughout the state issued a memo alongside the Maine School Board Association on Friday arguing that Maine school districts are required to continue forcing female athletes to compete against male athletes who claim they are transgender.
The email, dated May 2 with the subject line “Title IX FAQ,” was sent to Maine school board chairs and members from MSBA President Faye Anderson, Executive Director Steven Bailey and Drummond Woodsum attorney Melissa Hewey.
“This memo was developed in response to questions submitted to the Maine School Superintendents Association following an April 17th meeting with the Maine Department of Education,” the email reads.
“The attached FAQs address concerns related to Title IX, the Maine Human Rights Act, and the implications for Maine schools, particularly regarding federal funding, athletics participation, and compliance with both state and federal law,” it reads.
The purpose of the attached memo, according to the email, is to provide all Maine public school board members with “clarity and guidance as you navigate these important legal obligations.”
“We think it is especially important that all public school board members receive this memo,” the email reads, followed by a statement that Drummond Woodsum attorney Melissa Hewey made “major contributions” to the development of the FAQ document.
The FAQ memo, entitled “Title IX, Federal Funding and Maine Schools,” answers four questions regarding the legal precedence between federal and state law, executive orders and Title IX, and whether Maine schools must allow transgender athletes to participate in girls’ athletic events.
The Maine School Board Association (MSBA) and the Maine School Superintendents Association (MSSA) are two nonprofit organizations that collectively form the Maine School Management Association (MSMA), a taxpayer-funded quasi-governmental organization that promotes left-wing education policies.
The memo comes amid an ongoing legal battle between the Trump administration and the State of Maine for Maine’s refusal to comply with Donald Trump’s executive order “Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports.”
The order established the current administration’s interpretation of Title IX anti-discrimination laws that considers it a violation for males to be allowed in women’s sports.
It is argued in the Drummond Woodsum FAQ memo that “State and federal law take precedence over executive orders,” and that the Maine Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on gender identity, is “not preempted by Title IX,” and that Maine schools must comply with both laws.
“The Maine Human Rights Act is currently consistent with Title IX,” it is claimed in the memo.
The memo goes on to state that while Title IX does prohibit discrimination in education on the basis of sex, it “has nothing to do with athletics.”
In response to the question “Must Maine schools allow transgender girls to participate in girls’ athletic events?” the memo answers, “Currently, yes.”
“The Maine Human Rights Act requires this as do the rules of the Maine Principals’ Association and Title IX does not prohibit it,” the memo reads. “If state law is amended as has been proposed, this may change.”
The Maine Principals’ Association (MPA) is a private nonprofit corporation that regulates interscholastic high school athletics statewide, including both public and private schools.
Last year, the MPA adopted a new “Gender Identity Participation Policy” to make it easier for transgender or non-binary students to participate on high school sports teams in accordance with their “gender identity.”
The final question addressed in the FAQ memo is whether Maine school administrative units (SAUs) that choose to align with President Trump’s executive order and keep males out of girls’ athletics events will receive federal funding, even if that funding is withheld from the state.
This question appears to be in reference to Hodgdon school district (MSAD 70), whose board voted unanimously last month to adopt the federal government’s interpretation of Title IX, becoming the first school board in the state to do so.
It was indicated by Attorney General Pam Bondi at a press conference last month announcing the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Maine for their noncompliance with Title IX that MSAD 70 would not be losing out on federal funding withheld from Maine by the Trump administration.
However, it is argued in the Drummond Woodsum memo that school districts who do decide to align with the Trump administration will indeed be affected by federal funds being withheld from the state at large.
“The State of Maine is the grantee for virtually all federal funds flowing to schools in the state, so if one or more federal agencies decides to stop funding to the state, that decision will affect all SAUs regardless of their position on transgender participation in athletics,” the memo states. “There is no provision in the law for the federal government to provide funds directly to SAUs.”
The full MSBA/Drummond Woodsum memo to Maine school board members can be read below:
K.B. Perkins, a school board member in Piscataquis county, was one of the Maine school board members who received the FAQ memo via email on Friday.
“Today I received this email and attachment from the Maine School Boards Association with Title IX guidance for public schools. Namely: 1) state and federal law take precedence over executive orders; 2) the Maine Human Rights Act is not preempted by Title IX, therefore schools must comply with both laws; and 3) Maine schools must allow transgender girls to participate in girls’ athletic events because the MHRA requires it and Title IX does not prohibit it,” Perkins wrote in an email to the Maine Wire on Friday.
Perkins pointed to Drummond Woodsum Attorney Hewey’s biography on the law firm’s website indicates that she has given past presentations entitled “Student Rights: Zooming in on the Rights of Transgender and Gender Expansive Students,” “The New Era of Title IX” and “Supporting Transgender Students in Maine Schools.”
“Knowing Melissa Hewey gave ‘major contributions’ to the document, leads me to believe that public school board members in Maine are receiving slanted advice and direction,” Perkins said.
Friday’s memo is not the first time Drummond Woodsum has issued a memo to Maine public school officials related to obstructing the policies of the Trump administration.
In January, the law firm sent out a memo advising public school officials on how they can effectively resist potential immigration enforcement actions that may involve the families of minors who attend government-run schools, including by destroying evidence of potential immigration crimes.
Regarding information on noncitizen students in public schools, Drummond Woodsum advised their public school administrator clients, “[T]his information should not be stored as part of a students education record and should be destroyed as soon as it is no longer needed.”
Drummond Woodsum is the law firm representing the Great Salt Bay Community School in a lawsuit funded by Damariscotta area taxpayers.
The lawsuit was initiated by a parent who uncovered that a conditionally licensed social worker at the school was covertly trying to persuade her 13-year-old daughter to embrace a gender transition.
