SUTTON – Four local pediatricians urged the Kearsarge Regional School District to follow federal law, rather than New Hampshire’s new law regarding sex discrimination in student athletes. At the August school board meeting, Christine Arsnow, Sarah Lester, Frances Lim-Liberty and Rebecca Lozman, local pediatricians, and Chelsea Williams, a health teacher and coach in the district, encouraged the board to follow Title IX, a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in school athletics. 

Williams said that data shows transgender female athletes perform at varying levels, as all athletes, and there is no data to support the idea of an across-the-board advantage for transgender athletes. The pediatricians said the state law does more harm than good and targets a small number of youth.

In discussion, the school board termed the dilemma a “Hobson’s Choice” because following the state law will violate the federal law and vice versa. If the district complies with the state law it faces possible loss of federal funding. However, if the district violates the state law it opens itself to lawsuits by individuals or groups who could claim they were harmed by the inclusion of transgender athletes in girls’ sports. Such lawsuits are not limited to people in the Kearsarge school district, and as the law is untested, the amount of damages claimed is unknown. Superintendent Fortney advised the district to follow the state laws until the conflicts are resolved by the courts.

A motion to direct the superintendent to comply with the state law passed by a narrow majority.