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California’s largest school district is the latest in the state to pass a resolution calling for protections for women’s sports from trans athletes, opposing current state law. The resolution, passed this week, comes weeks after a controversial incident involving a women’s volleyball match.
Kern High School District (KHSD) administrator Derrek Tisinger told PK Press Club Digital that he and his colleagues witnessed a Christian school cheating on one of his district’s schools because of a trans athlete last month.
Bakersfield Christian lost its freshman/sophomore game to Ridgeview High School during the last week of September, with the following explanation: “As a school founded on the authority of Scripture, we affirm the biblical view that sex is determined by God at conception. »
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For Tisinger and many of his colleagues, it was difficult to witness.
“People try to say ‘hey, it only affects a small number of people,’ but there were probably 30 girls who practiced and dreamed their whole lives of playing volleyball, and they didn’t get to play,” Tisinger said.
“To sit here and talk about this, it’s almost ridiculous.”
Tisinger also has sympathy for the transgender athlete in his neighborhood at the center of the situation.
“This young man has every opportunity to play in any sport, men’s sport, he can play golf, tennis, he can do whatever he wants, but I don’t believe he has the right to come and move a girl on a team and take away her playing abilities and possibly take away a chance to get a scholarship later,” he added.
Tisinger, a former teacher, led the effort to pass the resolution, authored by Chino Valley Unified School Board President Sonja Shaw. Tisinger’s efforts resulted in a 3-2 vote, making the Kern High School District the 16th school in California to pass a resolution calling for change.
“People in our community and our district know that we are concerned about biological boys participating in girls’ sports, and we don’t want that to happen,” Tisinger added.
But Tisinger said he and many of his colleagues had to weigh possible backlash, or even legal action, if they were to adopt it.
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A group of parent and teacher activists sent a letter to KHSD suggesting possible legal action if they don’t follow state laws allowing biological males to play women’s sports.
“Your district may be exposed to litigation,” reads a copy of the letter obtained by PK Press Club Digital.
“Your role is clear: uphold the California Education Code. Make sure your school sports programs do not implement this discriminatory pilot policy at the local level. The law is on the side of fairness, privacy and dignity. Let’s keep it that way.”
But Tisinger also heard the message from the federal government and President Donald Trump, who signed an executive order requiring schools to only allow girls to play girls’ or women’s sports or risk losing federal funding. The U.S. Department of Justice is currently suing California state agencies for refusing to comply with this executive order.
Tisinger believed this resolution was a way for his district to choose a side it could support in the conflict.
“We’re in danger of being sued from both sides, so if we’re going to be sued, let’s be on the right side,” Tisinger said, telling his colleagues at Monday’s meeting to pass the resolution.
“The threat of losing federal funding, it’s a pretty serious situation, so we don’t take that, I don’t take that lightly. I don’t want to lose federal funding. Our school district, we have about 45,000 students. So for us, it’s critical that we have the federal funds to pay our wonderful teachers and take care of our students. So we shouldn’t be in a situation where we’re being blackmailed in any way or way. from another.”
