Tensions were high Thursday at a Chino Valley Unified School District board meeting where trustees agreed to file two federal complaints against the state of California for its policies on transgender students.

The board also approved a resolution calling on the California Interscholastic Federation “to preserve Title IX” to “protect female student athletes.” The votes were unanimous.

The complaints against the state allege that California and CIF violated Title IX by allowing transgender athletes in female sports and that the state violated a federal act protecting families.

Elana Ross, spokesperson for the governor’s office, said the office doesn’t usually comment on pending litigation. Scott Roark, spokesperson for the Department of Education, said that the department had not seen the complaint and had no comment. A CIF spokesperson could not be reached Friday afternoon.

Chino Valley Unified School District board President Sonja Shaw said while she doesn’t want interference from the federal government, the state has overstepped its bounds and forced the district to find loopholes for its policies.

“Now I am asking President Trump to intervene because we shouldn’t have to find a gray area to operate within,” said Shaw, who announced in March her 2026 run for the California schools chief post.

During her comments, Shaw read an emailed death threat she had received over the weekend in which the sender said they would pay money to watch Shaw’s death. She said that, as a parent, it was frightening, but it made her more resolute in reaching her goals.

“I am fighting for everything this nation stands for,” Shaw said.

Board member Jonathan Monroe said the resolution was about safety, equity and fairness and said that men and women are biologically different.

“The fact of the matter is, when a male transitions to a female and competes in a female sport, it is not fair,” Monroe said.

Steven Frazer, president of Associated Chino Teachers, said that the complaint was isolating the district to the detriment of students and staff, and invited the board to lead from a place of unity rather than exclusivity.

“Title IX was passed to expand the rights of girls and women, not to exclude them based on their gender identity,” Frazer said. “Public education belongs to all of us … Our schools must be a place where every student feels supported and safe.”

The resolution comes after a bill barring transgender athletes in California from sports that do not align with their assigned gender at birth failed in committee in early April.

Chino Valley’s two complaints center on the state’s handling of Assembly Bill 1955, which became a law in July that bars school districts from implementing parent notification policies requiring schools to tell parents if their student looks into gender affirming facilities different from their gender assigned at birth.

In the complaints, the district alleges that the state is violating the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act by violating parents’ rights to be informed about their student. Chino Valley also alleges the state is violating Title IX by allowing transgender athletes in female spaces — such as locker rooms and restrooms — and is putting female students at risk and creating unfair standards in sports, the complaint states.

The state education department wrote to the U.S. Department of Education in early April stating that AB 1955 did not violate the act based on the language of the law, and does not mandate that schools withhold information.

Title IX is a 1972 federal law that prevents sex-based discrimination, harassment and violence in any education institution that receives federal funding.

About 10 people gathered outside the district office before the meeting to protest the resolution and other policies they said target LGBTQ+ students.

“Trans kids exist, your hate we will resist,” they chanted.

Alexis Ortega, a 30-year-old Pomona resident, said that if attacks on transgender rights in Chino were not stopped they would spread to other communities and districts.

“Fascism is on the rise and I need to do my part to stop it,” Ortega said.

Rachael O’Neill, 30, an Inland Empire resident, said she wanted to stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community and said that it was important for children to feel seen and know that the community supported them.

“Whatever your political beliefs are you are here to protect children,” Jenn Grigorov, an Oakridge Elementary School parent, said of the board’s resolution.

During the meeting, speakers praised the board for “protecting girls’ sports” or condemned the board for what they said was violating the rights of transgender students and discriminating against them.

“To discriminate against one is to discriminate against all of them,” activist Anthony Bryson said. “I want to appeal to your Christianity, to your heart, and to you as parents. Imagine if it were different circumstances and people were judging your child.”

“If you are truly concerned about protecting children, you would respect their privacy,” Ginger Williams told trustees.

Williams was then kicked out of the meeting after continuing to speak when her time was up. She shouted that board members should remember that God will judge them.

Justice Riot May, who protested before the meeting, called the board’s policies harmful to transgender students.

Riot May said they had signed up to speak twice but was only allowed to address the board once. They called the board transphobic and marched out of the room, followed by others who departed while yelling “Hail Satan” and that the board and audience members feared the LGBTQ+ community.

Isabelle Salazar, a track athlete from Ayala High School in Chino Hills, said gender divisions exist to ensure fairness.

She said her twin brother runs track with her and in the same event — but in a different division. She said that, while they are both at the top of their divisions, her brother is faster because he is a male.

“These people are so stuck on following an agenda over protecting young women,” she said.

“Title IX allows girls to have their own spaces for their own safety and their own well being,” Patty Cabada said. “We fought too hard for women’s rights.”

“Title IX was created to protect girls, not to erase us,” Sophia Lorey said.

A similar resolution calling for the protection of female athletes was passed by the Temecula Valley Unified School District board March 28 and will appear on the Tuesday, April 22, agenda for the Redlands Unified School District board.

Chino Valley was the first district in California to pass a parent notification policy in July 2023.

The policy requires school districts to tell parents within three days if their child looks into gender affirming sports, bathrooms or other facilities.