KAITLYNN WHEELER: School Boards Can’t Be Allowed To Fail Our Girls

I stood up at the Saratoga Springs school board meeting alongside athletes, parents, and concerned citizens—some driving in from neighboring districts. The crowd filled every corner of the room. Why? Because they’re tired of being ignored. Tired of watching their daughters be sidelined by policies that prioritize ideology over biology, activism over academics. My message to the board was simple: protect women and girls.

The school board had already passed a resolution allowing males to compete in girls’ sports and access girls’ locker rooms. That decision didn’t just ignore biology and federal law—it ignored the very people they were elected to represent and protect.

Schools don’t own the children they educate. Parents do. And parents aren’t stupid. They see what’s happening. Parents in Saratoga Springs, New York, are not going to roll over while the school board tramples civil rights and strip their daughters of privacy — and history, while erasing fairness from women’s sports. Girls deserve equal opportunities, fair competition, and private spaces. They deserve to grow up in schools where they are safe—not politicized.

Title IX was passed more than 50 years ago to ensure women and girls had equal access to education and athletics. Today, that promise is under assault — not just from activist groups, but from elected officials who would rather appease an agenda than uphold the law. In Saratoga Springs, the board’s decision is in violation of President Trump’s Executive Order ensuring boys cannot invade girls’ sports and spaces. (RELATED: DOJ Sues Maine Over State’s Refusal To Enforce Ban On Males In Female Sports)

Biology isn’t bigotry. Safeguarding girls’ locker rooms and ensuring fair competition isn’t controversial — it’s common sense. Forcing girls to undress next to boys or compete against them isn’t inclusive; it’s the erasure of hard-won protections generations of women fought to secure.

This isn’t just a local issue anymore. What happens in Saratoga Springs echoes across New York and the country. That’s why the Riley Gaines Center at the Leadership Institute is now working with legal experts to open an investigation into the Saratoga Springs School District—and any other New York district violating federal law.

We are not going to be silent while girls are made vulnerable and their voices ignored. When school boards refuse to protect girls, they should be held accountable.

This isn’t a culture war. It’s a reality check.

This isn’t just a local issue anymore. What happens in Saratoga Springs echoes across New York and the country. That’s why the Riley Gaines Center at the Leadership Institute is now working with legal experts to open an investigation into the Saratoga Springs School District—and any other New York district violating federal law. Just today, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it is going after states and school districts that refuse to enforce Title IX and President Trump’s executive order protecting women’s sports. The era of ignoring girls’ rights is coming to an end.

We are not going to be silent while girls are made vulnerable and their voices ignored. When school boards refuse to protect girls, they should be held accountable.

If the board won’t protect these girls, we will. This fight is far from over.

Kaitlynn Wheeler is an NCAA Division I swimmer, SEC Champion, and multiple-time All-American who competed for the University of Kentucky alongside Riley Gaines. Now an Ambassador for the Riley Gaines Center at the Leadership Institute, Kaitlynn is a powerful advocate for protecting women’s sports, privacy, and equal opportunity after both she and her younger sister were directly impacted by locker room policies allowing biological males into female spaces.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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