A Lake Tahoe school district is caught between California and Nevada鈥檚 competing policies on transgender student athletes, a dispute that鈥檚 poised to reorder where the district鈥檚 students compete.
High schools in California鈥檚 Tahoe-Truckee Unified School District, set in a mountainous, snow-prone area near the border with Nevada, have for decades competed in the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association, or NIAA. That has allowed sports teams to avoid making frequent and potentially hazardous trips in poor winter weather to competitions farther to the west, district officials say.
But the Nevada association voted in April to require students in sex-segregated sports programs to play on teams that align with their sex assigned at birth鈥攁 departure from a previous approach allowing individual schools to set their own standards. The move raised questions for how the Tahoe-Truckee district would remain in the Nevada association while following California law, which says students can play on teams consistent with their gender identity.
Now, California鈥檚 Department of Education is requiring the district to join the California Interscholastic Federation, or CIF, by the start of next school year.
District Superintendent Kerstin Kramer said at a school board meeting this week the demand puts the district in a difficult position.
鈥淣o matter which authority we鈥檙e complying with we are leaving students behind,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o we have been stuck.鈥�
There are currently no known transgender student athletes competing in high school sports in Tahoe-Truckee Unified, district officials told the education department in a letter. But a former student filed a complaint with the state in June after the board decided to stick with Nevada athletics, Kramer said.
A national debate
The dispute comes amid a nationwide battle over the in which states have restricted transgender girls from participating on girls sports teams, barred gender-affirming surgeries for minors, and required parents to be notified if a child changes their pronouns at school. At least 24 states have laws barring transgender women and girls from participating in certain sports competitions. Some of the policies have been blocked in court.
Meanwhile, California is fighting the Trump administration in court over transgender athlete policies. President Donald Trump in February aimed at banning transgender women and girls from participating in female athletics. The U.S. Justice Department also in July, alleging its policy allowing transgender girls to compete on girls sports teams violates federal law.
And Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has aimed at protecting trans youth, in March when he raised questions on his podcast about the fairness of trans women and girls competing against other female athletes. His office did not comment on the Tahoe-Truckee Unified case, but said Newsom 鈥渞ejects the right wing鈥檚 cynical attempt to weaponize this debate as an excuse to vilify individual kids.鈥�
The state education department said in a statement that all California districts must follow the law regardless of which state鈥檚 athletic association they join.
At the Tahoe-Truckee school board meeting this week, some parents and one student said they opposed allowing trans girls to participate on girls teams.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 see how it would be fair for female athletes to compete against a biological male because they鈥檙e stronger, they鈥檙e taller, they鈥檙e faster,鈥� said Ava Cockrum, a Truckee High School student on the track and field team. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just not fair.鈥�
But Beth Curtis, a civil rights attorney whose children attended schools in Tahoe-Truckee Unified, said the district should fight NIAA from implementing its trans student athlete policy as violating the Nevada Constitution.
Asking for more time
The district has drafted a plan to transition to the California federation by the 2028-29 school year after state officials ordered it to take action. It鈥檚 awaiting the education department鈥檚 response.
Curtis doesn鈥檛 think the state will allow the district to delay joining CIF, the California federation, another two years, noting the education department is vigorously defending its law against the Trump administration: 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not going to fight to uphold the law and say to you at the same time, 鈥極kay, you can ignore it for two years.鈥欌��
Tahoe-Truckee Unified鈥檚 two high schools with athletic programs, which are located about 6,000 feet in elevation, compete against both California and Nevada teams in nearby mountain towns鈥攁nd others more distant and closer to sea level. If the district moves to the California federation, Tahoe-Truckee Unified teams may have to travel more often in bad weather across a risky mountain pass鈥攁bout 7,000 feet in elevation above a lake鈥攖o reach schools farther from state lines.
Coleville High School, a small California school in the Eastern Sierra near the Nevada border, has also long been a member of the Nevada association, said Heidi Torix, superintendent of the Eastern Sierra Unified School District. The school abides by California law regarding transgender athletes, Torix said.
The school has not been similarly ordered by California to switch where it competes. The California Department of Education did not respond to requests for comment on whether it鈥檚 warned any other districts not in the California federation about possible noncompliance with state policy.
State Assemblymember Heather Hadwick, a Republican representing a large region of northern California bordering Nevada, said Tahoe-Truckee Unified shouldn鈥檛 be forced to join the CIF.
鈥淚 urge California Department of Education and state officials to fully consider the real-world consequences of this decision鈥攏ot in theory, but on the ground鈥攚here weather, geography, and safety matter,鈥� Hadwick said.
