Monroe Public Schools voted 4-2 to limit girls’ athletics and locker rooms to biological females after a volleyball player sued over privacy, safety, and fair play.
The Monroe Public Schools Board of Education approved a new district policy that confines girls’ athletics and girls’ athletic facilities to biological females, documented on the birth certificate at the time of birth. Superintendent Andrew Shaw told Fox News Digital the board passed the measure 4 yes, 2 no, with one member absent.
The policy is titled “Girl’s Athletic Participation and Facilities Use.” It applies only inside Monroe Public Schools and does not bind visiting teams, Shaw said.
The vote lands after Briley Lechner, a Monroe High School varsity volleyball player, and her father Sean filed a federal lawsuit on Oct. 9. The Thomas More Law Center announced the case, which raises Title IX and constitutional claims against Monroe Public Schools, the Michigan High School Athletic Association, and school officials.
At the center of the suit is a September 9, 2025, match against Ann Arbor’s Skyline High School. The legal group says school officials knowingly hid that a biological male, described as a transgender female, would compete on the opposing side. Briley has said she shared a locker room that day without knowing.
Fox News Digital obtained the policy text the board considered. It is short and direct.
"Participation in girl's athletics at Monroe Public Schools shall be restricted to biological females as documented on the birth certificate at the time of birth. Access to and use of girl's athletic facilities (locker rooms) shall follow the same restriction."
Shaw described his job in plain terms. He implements what the board adopts.
"As the superintendent it is my role to implement the policies established by the Board of Education,"
He also stressed the limits of the rule.
"The policy that was approved is for Monroe Public Schools only and does not impact any visiting school."
That means Monroe’s own teams and locker rooms are covered. Opposing schools keep their own roster rules when they travel in.
Briley Lechner spoke with Fox News Digital on Oct. 15. She filed after learning she had shared a locker room with a male athlete on the other team.
"What's very scary is that the day that this happened, I had no clue that there was a boy on the other team,"
She framed the dispute around privacy, safety, and fair competition, not hostility toward anyone.
"Our family loves and respect everyone, regardless of our differences. This has always been about my privacy, my safety, and fair play. Nothing more, nothing less."
Her father, Sean Lechner, co-filed the suit. He called the new policy an incomplete but real step for female athletes, and said it took far too long.
"The new policy may be watered down, but it's an incremental victory for my daughter and every female athlete. It's shameful it took nearly a year to get here but we still have work to do. Who's to say they can't change it again? Regardless of how some try to twist the narrative, this has ALWAYS been about my daughter's privacy, safety, and fair play. Nothing more, nothing less!"
Sean Lechner said the family has taken heat since the lawsuit became public. He and his daughter have received harassing and threatening messages. He cast his role as basic parental duty.
"Since our lawsuit was announced, my daughter and I have received even more harassing and threatening messages. But at the heart of everything I'm doing is something simple, being a father, being a parent, and loving my daughter enough to stand beside her when she needs me most."
He urged other parents to put common sense and protection of their children first, and said no volume of hate would push him off that line.
Briley put the broader claim in one clear sentence: every female athlete deserves protected rights, and boys do not belong in girls’ locker rooms or girls’ sports.
The Monroe action sits inside a running national fight over male-bodied athletes in girls’ and women’s sports. Title IX was written to give female athletes equal opportunity. When biological males enter those categories, strength, speed, and privacy gaps become real problems for the girls already on the roster.
Monroe’s board did not wait for another agency memo or another season of confusion. It tied eligibility to the birth certificate at birth. That is a verifiable standard. It does not ask coaches or teammates to police feelings. It asks for a document.
The lawsuit still has to run its course. Court name, docket number, and any defense response are not settled in the available reporting. The allegations of concealment around the Skyline match remain claims, not findings. What is settled in Monroe is the district’s own rule for its own programs and facilities.
Shaw’s email made the mechanics clear: the board set policy; he will carry it out; visiting schools are outside its reach. For Monroe girls, the locker room and the roster now have a sex-based floor.
Female athletes should not need a federal complaint and a year of pressure to keep their category intact. Monroe finally drew the line parents and players were asking for, and other districts still ducking the same question have a working model in front of them.
