Utah County school districts scrutinized amid allegations of bathroom law violations | News, Sports, Jobs

Lina PortmanJune 7, 2024

0 2 minutes read

Spenser Heaps, The Deseret News via AP, Pool

Utah Auditor John Dougall, left, listens as Gov. Gary Herbert delivers his State of the State address at the Utah State Capitol on Jan. 30, 2019, in Salt Lake City. Transgender activists have flooded a Utah tip line created to alert state officials about possible violations of a new bathroom law with thousands of prank reports in an effort to protect trans residents and their allies from any legitimate complaint that could threaten their security. The attack led the state official charged by law with running the tip line, Dougall, to lament being stuck with the onerous task of filtering out false complaints while facing backlash for enforcing a law in which he played no role.

Since it took effect May 1, Utah State Auditor John Dougall's office has reviewed thousands of alleged violations related to Utah's new restroom law, many of which were not credible.

However, five complaints were identified “that we believe may reflect a good faith effort to make plausible an allegation of violation of the Statute by a government entity,” Dougall said in a press release. Two of the entities examined cited lack of enforcement by the Alpine and Provo City school districts.

The auditor's office said it could not substantiate the allegations in any of the complaints, but separate issues were discovered.

After reviewing a complaint in the Provo City School District, the auditor's office said it found the district had not finalized its privacy plan in accordance with House Bill 257, which passed this year. The district was given 30 days to correct the problem.

After reviewing the Alpine School District's complaint, the Auditor's Office determined that the district had the required privacy compliance plan in place that appears to comply with the law.

The auditor's office says letters were sent to each of the government entities, but neither the letters nor the press release specify what triggered the complaints or contain information regarding the allegations.

The bill officially took effect last month. It prohibits people from accessing restrooms and locker rooms in buildings owned or controlled by the state government who do not correspond to their sex as declared at the time of their birth.

In some last-minute changes before final legislative approval, the bill's sponsor, Rep. Kera Birkeland, R-Morgan, wanted to make it “clear” that K-12 students would not be able to cope to no criminal penalties for entering a restroom that does not correspond to their gender, Utah News Dispatch reported.

Over the past month, the Auditor's Office says more than 12,000 complaints have been received. But “the overwhelming majority were, at best, frivolous hoaxes and, at worst, transparent hoaxes,” Dougall said in a press release.

The Office of the Auditor reiterated its responsibilities for investigating entities found to be in violation. “We only investigate alleged violations of the Statute by government entities. We will not investigate allegations regarding an individual’s use of the restroom, and we will not investigate or determine an individual’s sex or gender,” Dougall said in a statement last month.