FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 17, 2022
Superintendent Arntzen Joins Attorney General Austin Knudsen’s Call to Withdraw Unlawful Guidance Tying School Nutrition Programs to a New Definition of Sex
HELENA – Superintendent Arntzen wholeheartedly supports Attorney General Knudsen’s joint plea with 25 other state Attorneys General for the Biden Administration to direct the United States Department of Agriculture under Secretary Vilsack to rescind their unlawful guidance. The guidance ties the Title IX and federal school nutrition program funding to discrimination complaints based on a reinterpretation of the definition of “sex.”
On May 5, 2022, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced they will broadly interpret “discrimination on the basis of sex.” The new definition could result in regulatory harm to over 149,000 Montana public school students who currently receive essential nutritional services in school breakfast, lunch, and snack programs. These nutrition programs in Montana receive over $40 million annually.
The new definition was adopted by the USDA without going through the rulemaking process. This federal action lacks transparency as there is no process for public comment on the positive or negative effects. In this statement the USDA mandates state and local agencies, including education agencies, receiving nutrition program funding to investigate sex discrimination allegations using the new definition.
“We do not discriminate in Montana. Our school leaders and teachers take every allegation seriously,” said Superintendent Elsie Arntzen. “This is a backward approach to the prevention of bullying in our schools. The Administration is mandating, ‘do what we say, or we’ll take your lunch money.’ We do not need the federal government blocking Montana’s local control with top-down policies that only serve a one-sided out-of-state special interest’s harmful agenda.”
The letter signed by 26 state Attorneys General calls on the USDA to withdraw its guidance for imposing new, unlawful regulations on state agencies and schools receiving federal financial assistance. The letter also points out that by imposing additional burdens on states and schools it could create new legal claims for liability by ordering state and local agency compliance.
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Brian.O'Leary, Communications Director
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