Roger Moulton used to place a monthly phone call to his local school district’s law firm to tell them how much he disliked them.
“If I had my own personal call, we’d fire Drummond Woodsum and hire anybody else in the state,” he said in an interview, arguing the Portland-based firm is “destroying the moral fabric of our public education.”
Since joining Regional School Unit 73’s board in May, the Livermore Falls man helped pass a resolution updating the district’s Title IX policy to bar transgender students from sports and private spaces that align with their gender identities.
Drummond Woodsum has long represented the lion’s share of Maine school districts. It is also a target of conservative ire after advising boards against changing policies to contradict the state’s protections for transgender students, which has become a charged issue since President Donald Trump began sparring with Gov. Janet Mills on the state’s athletic rules in February.
The law firm has advised boards that Trump’s executive order that sought to bar transgender girls from girls’ sports has no force in Maine, and that local school boards ought to follow the Maine Human Rights Act, the longstanding law that bars gender identity-based discrimination in education and other public settings.
At least three districts have sought advice beyond Drummond and two districts — RSU 73 and School Administrative District 70 in Hodgdon — moved to implement Title IX changes after consulting with Steve Smith Trial Lawyers, a firm based in Augusta.
State regulators have said they do not plan to take action against any school districts over the Title IX policy change, but schools could still face legal trouble if a student or their family files a discrimination complaint with the commission. The Justice Department sued Maine in April, alleging the state is violating its interpretation of Title IX, a landmark 1972 civil rights law.
The uncertain legal environment has kept many conservative school districts from changing their policies for now and led to criticism of the board members who made changes. Elaine Fitzgerald, an RSU 73 board member from Jay, has expressed concern about the legality of the change, saying it could leave the district vulnerable to lawsuits.
“My stand has been the same since the beginning: This is unlawful,” she said. “We’re here to support the students and this violates state law as well as the [board members’] oath of office.”
The conservative think tank Maine Policy Institute, which pushed MSAD 73 and other districts to revise their Title IX policies, argues that the new federal interpretation should be enforced. Jacob Posik, the group’s legislative affairs director, said Drummond Woodsum has “deliberately handicapped school board members” by advising they avoid making any changes to Title IX.
But Isabel Ekman, the leader of Drummond’s school law group, said the firm stands by its advice. School districts have kept working with the firm even after getting second opinions from the Smith firm, and she argued that firm does not push its clients on policy.
Drummond was on the other side of a landmark Maine case in this area. It represented Orono’s school district in the 2014 case it lost before the state’s high court, which ruled it unlawfully denied transgender student Nicole Maines access to the girls’ bathroom.
“We equip [clients] with the legal analysis and information they need to make informed choices based on their own values and community priorities,” Ekman said. “Once those decisions are made, whatever the decision may be, we support and advocate for our clients.”
Daniel O’Connor is a Report for America corps member who covers rural politics as part of the partnership between the Bangor Daily News and The Maine Monitor, with additional support from BDN and Monitor readers.
