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California’s largest high school district is the latest in the state to pass a resolution calling for protection of women’s sports from trans athletes, in opposition to current state law. The resolution, which was passed this week, came weeks after a controversial incident involving a women’s volleyball match.
Kern High School District (KHSD) Administrator Derrek Tisinger told Pak Gazette Digital that he and his colleagues had to witness the loss of a Christian school to one of their district’s schools over a trans athlete last month.
Bakersfield Christian lost its freshman-sophomore game to Ridgeview High School in the last week of September, with the explanation that “as a school based on the authority of Scripture, we affirm the biblical view that sex is determined by God at the moment of conception.”
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For Tisinger and many of his colleagues, witnessing this was difficult.
“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 about playing volleyball, and they didn’t get to play,” Tisinger said.
“To sit here and talk about this is almost ridiculous.”
Tisinger also has sympathy for the trans athlete in his district who is at the center of the situation.
“This young man has every opportunity to play any sport, men’s sport, he can play golf, tennis, he can do whatever he wants, but I don’t think he has the right to come in and displace a girl on a team and take away her ability to play and possibly take away her opportunity to get a scholarship in the future,” he added.
Tisinger, a former teacher, led the effort to pass the resolution, which was authored by Chino Valley Unified School Board President Sonja Shaw. Tisinger’s effort resulted in a 3-2 vote, making the Kern High School District the 16th institution in California to pass a resolution demanding the change.
“People in our community and in our district know that we are concerned about biological boys playing 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 and even legal action if they approved it.
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A group of parent and teacher activists sent a letter to KHSD suggesting possible legal action if they did not comply with state laws allowing biological males to participate in women’s sports.
““Your district could be at risk of litigation,” reads a copy of the letter obtained by Pak Gazette Digital.
“Your role is clear: uphold the California Education Code. Ensure that your school’s athletic programs do not implement this discriminatory pilot policy at the local level. The law is on the side of justice, 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 women to participate in girls’ and women’s sports or risk a possible loss of federal funding. The US 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 in the conflict that he could support.
“We’re being threatened with being sued by both sides, so if we’re going to be sued, let’s be on the right side,” Tisinger said he told his colleagues at Monday’s meeting to approve the resolution.
“The threat of losing federal funds is a pretty serious situation, so we don’t take it, I don’t take it lightly. I don’t want to lose federal funds. Our school district has about 45,000 students. So for us, it’s critical that we have the federal funds to pay our wonderful teachers that we have and take care of our students. So we shouldn’t be in a situation where we’re being blackmailed in one way or another.”
