SLO County school board refuses to consider resolution on trans athletes
The Paso Robles school board will not consider a resolution restricting transgender students in the interest of protecting cisgender girls, it decided Tuesday night.
The vote came after trustee Kenney Enney said he’d heard from families concerned about district policies that, in accordance with California law, permit transgender girls to participate on girls sports teams and use girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms.
He also read a letter he said he received from a Paso Robles High School student who felt unsafe due to the district’s policies. Enney did not name the student.
He suggested the board take up a resolution at a future board meeting. While he didn’t produce a specific written document, he said his desired resolution would “ban boys from the girls’ spaces.”
Previously in the meeting, he said the resolution would be geared toward “protecting the privacy of girls’ locker rooms and private spaces, and keeping the … boys off of the girls’ athletic teams.”
While Enney appeared to propose a resolution as a policy change, resolutions don’t typically affect how schools operate. They’re instead used to signal a board’s stance on a topic.
That was the case for a resolution targeting transgender rights passed in the Redlands school district as well as one approved in Kern County, according to multiple reports. Enney referenced the Kern County resolution during Tuesday night’s meeting.
Tuesday wasn’t the first time the fight over the rights of transgender students and athletes hit the Paso Robles school board. The topic previously sparked debate and division at a May school board meeting.
SLO County’s Lucia Mar school board struck down a similar, community-proposed resolution in May.
Anti-transgender resolution fails on close vote
During Tuesday’s meeting, Enney made it clear he opposed Paso Robles’ policies and wants change — but most of his fellow school board members didn’t agree.
The board struck down Enney’s suggestion in a 4-3 vote.
Enney and trustees Laurene McCoy and Leo Castillo voted in favor of the motion, while trustees Joel Peterson, Sondra Williams, Nathan Williams and Jim Cogan voted no.
Those who spoke in opposition said they felt the school board wasn’t in a position to take official action on the topic, which has left school leaders grasping for legal answers as federal directives butt up against California law.
Before the board took a vote, Enney said he was confident his fellow board members would not take action — and he said he’s made that clear to the parents who have reached out to him asking for change.
“My recommendation to these parents, unfortunately, is right now you have several options,” Enney said. “You can withdraw your children from the school district, you can lawyer up and sue the school district, or ultimately you have elections coming up next year, and you can get rid of the left-leaning board members that you disagree with. But this board, either through lack of moral courage or just a separate group of morals, is not going to address those problems.”
Enney said he would continue to bring up the topic at all future board meetings.
In a Facebook post shared after the meeting, Enney said allowing transgender girls to use girls facilities and play on girls sports teams is “sick and wrong.”
“The leftist majority on the PRJUSD board is not interested in protecting girls, or girls sports, either because they lack the moral courage, or morals to do the right thing,” Enney wrote. “They’re more concerned about going along to get along.”
This story was originally published October 16, 2025 at 12:06 PM.
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