The Trump administration is again giving the Minnesota Department of Education and the state’s high school league 10 days to resolve being noncompliant with Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in any school or education program that receives federal funds, or risk losing government funding.

A nearly 10-month investigation by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights determined Minnesota was in violation of Title IX for its decade-old bylaw that allows athletes assigned male at birth to compete in female sports.

Title IX applies to athletes, the classroom, campus safety, employment, discrimination and more.

On Dec. 22, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) gave notice to the Minnesota Department of Education and the MSHSL that it may initiate the administrative process to suspend, terminate or refuse to grant funding to schools and education programs if the two entities fail to agree to a proposed resolution to gain compliance.

The U.S. DOE initially declared Minnesota in violation of Title IX on Sept. 30 and gave the MN DOE and MSHSL a 10-day window to comply with the federal government’s demand to change the state’s transgender athlete policy or risk losing federal funding.

The state of Minnesota sent a letter to the Trump administration on Oct. 10 saying it would not offer a “substantive response” to a demand to ban transgender players from girls sports, citing a lack of clarity amid the government shutdown.

Minnesota Solicitor General Liz Kramer wrote that the timeline for state action was unclear and criticized the federal Title IX investigation and the suggestion that the state “faces imminent cuts to federal funding” unless it makes changes.

According to the Dec. 22 notice shared on X by Linda McMahon, the U.S. Secretary of Education, the OCR on Dec. 9 contacted the MN DOE and MSHSL seeing whether both parties were interested in signing a voluntary resolution agreement. The MSHSL and MN DOE had to respond by Dec. 15.

The MSHSL did not respond, and the MN DOE, through the Minnesota Attorney General’s office, refused to accept the proposed resolution or engage in negotiations.

No details on specific financial penalties or other potential punishments have emerged. Minnesota receives $1.4 billion, or about 10%, of its annual school funding, from the federal government.

Minnesota’s Department of Education said in a Sept. 30 statement that it “remains committed to ensuring every child has the opportunity to thrive in a safe and supportive school community.”

The notice from the OCR states that the MSHSL “remains silent.” Erich Martens, executive director of the MSHSL, said after a league board meeting Dec. 4 that he has had no dialogue with the U.S. DOE since it determined the MSHSL is in violation of Title IX.

He said the MSHSL’s focus has been on a joint brief filed by a coalition of attorneys general supporting a federal lawsuit aimed at temporarily blocking transgender athletes from competing in girls sports in Minnesota.

Messages to the MSHSL and MN DOE were not immediately returned.

In 2015, the MSHSL voted to open girls sports to transgender athletes, a decision that took effect for the 2015-16 school year. Minnesota was the 33rd state to adopt a formal transgender student policy.

President Donald Trump’s administration has also pushed to ban transgender athletes from competing in female sports in California, Maine and Massachusetts.

The federal investigation into Minnesota and threat of suspending federal funds led members of local school boards to sign a letter urging the MSHSL to rescind its policy.

In its investigation, the U.S. DOE determined that the MSHSL, over several years, has allowed transgender athletes to compete in girls skiing (Alpine and Nordic), girls lacrosse, girls track and field, girls volleyball and girls softball.

The MSHSL, citing the Data Privacy Act, does not keep records of how many transgender athletes compete in the league’s sports and activities.

“Once an education program or entity takes federal funds, Title IX compliance becomes mandatory, and the federal government will hold Minnesota accountable until it recognizes that fact,” Craig Trainor, the U.S. Education Department’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights, said in the Sept. 30 writing about the investigation.