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Trump administration is investigating the ConVal school district over alleged gender policies

A school bathroom at Weare Middle School in Weare, New Hampshire.
Annmarie Timmins
/
NHPR
The Trump administration is investigating the ConVal school district for allegedly allowing "biological men" to use girl's bathrooms and locker rooms.

The Trump administration said Tuesday it is investigating the ConVal School District for allegedly allowing “biological men” to use girls’ restrooms and locker rooms in violation of federal law. The U.S. Department of Education alleged students had complained to school officials but did not describe the nature of the complaints or say how school officials responded.

Parents Defending Education, a national group that says it fights "indoctrination in classrooms,” filed a federal civil rights complaint against the school district in August 2025, according to its statement Tuesday. It cited the same allegations in its complaint.

ConVal Superintendent Ann Forrest could not be immediately reached for comment.

The announcement comes a month after Gov. Kelly Ayotte vetoed Republican backed legislation that would allow schools and other public entities to ban transgender people from restrooms, locker rooms, jails, and other spaces that don’t match their sex at birth.

In its press release, the federal government cited a district policy that allows students to access “intimate facilities based on ‘gender identity,’ not biological sex. It said “that discrimination based on sex is also notably absent from Contoocook Valley High School’s non-discrimination policy.”

However, according to the school district’s website, its non-discrimination policy includes discrimination based on sex among more than 15 other characteristics.

New Hampshire school districts began reevaluating their policies protecting transgender policies last year, a week after the Trump administration threatened to withhold federal funding to schools that allowed transgender girls to play on girls sports teams.

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I write about youth and education in New Hampshire. I believe the experts for a news story are the people living the issue you are writing about, so I’m eager to learn how students and their families are navigating challenges in their daily lives — including childcare, bullying, academic demands and more. I’m also interested in exploring how changes in technology and funding are affecting education in New Hampshire, as well as what young Granite Staters are thinking about their experiences in school and life after graduation.

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