District officials had made some accommodations for the student but had stopped short of complying with the federal directive to offer full access to the girls’ locker room. They offered the student a curtained-off area in which to change and shower, acknowledging that they were risking lawsuits and the loss of millions of dollars in federal funding. With the settlement, the student has agreed to use the private areas of the locker room to change and shower, district officials said

Amid cries from opponents of “shame on you” and “gutless cowards,” the Township High School District 211 school board voted early Thursday to give a transgender student access to the girls’ locker room, settling a case that thrust the district into the national spotlight and caused deep divisions in the community.

Hundreds of people gathered in the cafeteria at Hoffman Estates‘ Conant High School on Wednesday evening for the school board meeting, and a large majority of speakers in the standing-room-only crowd said they were against a settlement that would allow the student, who was born male but identifies as female, to use the girls’ locker room.

Some opponents carried signs with messages like, “Settling is losing.”

“Whether the young man wants to admit or not … he is a man,” said another attendee.

“God does not make mistakes. God made man, and then God made woman,” added a third.

The state’s largest high school district has been the national focus of the debate over transgender student accommodations in schools since, in an unprecedented move, federal officials ruled last month that the district had broken the law against discrimination in education.

District officials had made some accommodations for the student but had stopped short of complying with the federal directive to offer full access to the girls’ locker room. They offered the student a curtained-off area in which to change and shower, acknowledging that they were risking lawsuits and the loss of millions of dollars in federal funding.

With the settlement, the student has agreed to use the private areas of the locker room to change and shower, district officials said.

The 5-2 vote came as the deadline loomed before such penalties could kick in. The outcome was announced after about two hours of public comments and then a three-hour closed-door board meeting. Board members Peter Dombrowski and Lauanna Recker cast the no votes.

The settlement, though, seemed unlikely to end the controversy. Community members spoke passionately on both sides of the issue.

“Discrimination of any form is wrong,” said one district mother who spoke in support of the transgender student.

Another parent, Teresa Saunders, choked back tears as she appealed to the board to consider, “What if this were your child?

“I can’t imagine anything more damaging for a student than to be told they are different from all their fellow students,” she said. “In doing so, the administration is treating them as though they weren’t human beings at all.”

Mother of transgender student at center of national debate speaks out

A handful of students who spoke all came out in support of the transgender student, with one, Jake Lytle, saying, “Choose boldly and make history. Accept this agreement.”

In a statement released after the vote, Superintendent Daniel Cates said the settlement in the case applies only to the student in question and is not a districtwide policy. He also said the district “categorically refutes the notion of any violation of the law or form of discrimination.”

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