On Feb. 5, President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transgender women from competing in women’s sports. His administration cited Title IX, a 1972 law mandating equal athletic opportunities for men and women, as justification. Title IX has evolved throughout decades to include sexual harassment as it is defined as a form of sex discrimination by the federal government, but the ways schools follow the law vary by state and district, shaping policies at schools like Nixa High School.
In 2024, the Biden administration introduced national changes to Title IX, outlining how institutions should address sexual harassment and assault allegations while expanding protections for LGBTQ+ and pregnant students. However, the rewrite of the policy led to eight lawsuits, with 26 states signing on to the cases, including Missouri.
“We never went live with [the changes] then because Missouri got pulled into the injunction with … the other states,” Mark McGehee, executive director of human resources and Title IX coordinator for Nixa Public Schools said.
While other schools have had to shift their policies to follow Title IX requirements between Biden’s and Trump’s administrations, Nixa and other Missouri schools have not needed to change their policies, as Biden’s Title IX law was never put into action in Missouri. Alongside the lack of Title IX changes in Missouri many Missouri schools use the same policy as it is provided by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
“At least half the school districts in Missouri use that Missouri School Board policy,” McGehee said. “That is a stock policy. It’s very similar from district to district.”
Title IX is focused on equality based on gender. Aside from Nixa’s Title IX policy Nixa also has another antidiscrimination policy, under code AC, that includes harassment based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, disability, age and anything else that may fit under the policy.
“It is sexual harassment under Title IX,” Dr. David Kelly, principal at Nixa High School, said. “Then there is the Illegal Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation [policy]. So a lot of times, if it doesn’t fall under Title IX, it ends up falling under AC … and you can do almost the same discipline regardless of which one it falls under.”
At the beginning of each school year, Nixa High School students watch a presentation about the anti-discrimination policies at the high school, including Nixa’s Title IX policy. However,
McGehee said he has some advice for students who forget the policy.
“If nothing else, remember, talk to an adult … and then that works its way up the chain and gets to where it needs to be very quickly,” McGehee said.
While Nixa has created policies to accommodate national law, the activities director at Nixa High School, Brandon Clark, said Nixa tries to offer diverse and equal opportunities for male and female athletes.
“Last year, we added boys’ volleyball, so we added girls’ flag football as another opportunity for female athletes,” Clark said. “Similarly, we look at funding for each program and try to ensure that spending is proportionate, based on our ratio to male and females within the school. For example, when we look to add new features for baseball athletes, we make sure our softball athletes have the same access and features.”