The Massachusetts father of a third-grade girl who says his daughter was subjected to a disturbing bathroom incident involving a transgender classmate is not backing down from his fight with the school district.
Luis Rivera, whose daughter attends Rochester Memorial School, has hired attorney Sam Whiting of the Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center after filing a federal Title IX complaint against the Old Rochester Regional School District in May.
A letter filed by Whiting on Rivera’s behalf alleges that Rivera’s 9-year-old daughter was the victim of sex-based harassment after a transgender female classmate, who was born male, entered her bathroom stall. The letter also alleges that the student had previously watched female students use the bathroom, which Rivera and his attorney argue invaded their privacy and undermined their dignity.
Rivera and his wife, Kerri, along with other parents, have repeatedly contacted Rochester Memorial School Principal Heidi Letendre about the transgender student’s use of the girls’ bathroom, according to the letter.
“On numerous occasions, during this actual event, we reached out multiple times. And we were told by the principal that no boy is supposed to be in the bathroom. Then somewhere along the line, they changed their story,” Rivera told Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital reached out to Letendre for comment.
Rivera said he has attended every school committee meeting since the incident, joining other community members in pushing the district to change its bathroom policy.
He also said he and his wife have decided to remove their daughter from the school for the upcoming school year. His daughter wrote a letter to President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump asking for help with the situation.
“I feel scared to use the girls’ bathroom,” she wrote.
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The dispute centers not only on the alleged incident involving Rivera’s daughter but also on the district’s interpretation of state and federal anti-discrimination laws, Whiting said.
Massachusetts law prohibits discrimination against students based on protected characteristics, including gender identity, and bars schools from excluding students from “the advantages, privileges and courses of study” they offer.
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education also says transgender students should have access to school facilities, including bathrooms, consistent with their gender identity.
For now, however, the Old Rochester Regional School District does not appear to have plans to change its policy regarding transgender students.
In a message to parents, Superintendent Michael Nelson said that, following a Title IX investigation, school staff and district administrators acted in compliance with the law. The decision, he said, was made by an independent decision maker following the complaint brought forward by the Rochester Memorial School parent.
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In a written statement, Nelson said the district is bound by the Massachusetts laws.
“Additionally, our schools adhere to the policies and procedures of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education,” he said.
“… We believe that we are bound by law and state education policy and that age-appropriate handling of student matters in a public school setting is best left to the professional educators who know how to do their jobs correctly and effectively,” he said.
He also noted that during this process, his educators and administrators have been subject to “innumerable explicit, angry and threatening communications,” directly and indirectly through social media.
Fox News Digital reached out directly to Nelson.
Whiting said he and the parents involved are particularly disappointed by the superintendent’s response, which he claims downplayed the seriousness of the incident.
According to Whiting, the response amounted to, “Oh, these things just happen between 9-year-olds… sometimes bathroom doors are unlocked and these things happen.”
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Whiting said he hopes the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights will investigate the complaint.
“Ultimately, we hope they will find that the school district is in violation of Title IX and will refer the case to the Department of Justice for enforcement,” he said. “School districts who violate Title IX can be at risk of losing their federal funds… We’re always hopeful they’ll do the right thing, but if they don’t, our plan is to try to get this in front of the proper authorities at the federal level.”
Rivera said the lack of what he considers meaningful action from the district has left him with no choice but to escalate the matter.
“They haven’t taken any remedial action. And so that’s why we feel like we have to kind of bring this up to the higher authorities and the federal government,” Rivera said. “There’s no transparency. There’s no accountability. It’s just they’re running around free, and they’re violating these girls’ privacy rights, because what happened to my daughter should have never happened if the policies were put into place.”
“And I have to deal with her emotional trauma behind this,” Rivera added.
