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Middleton single-sex classrooms violated federal law

Posted at 3:38 PM, Nov 30, 2016
and last updated 2016-11-30 17:38:52-05

Officials with the U.S. Department of Education say the Middleton School District violated federal law when it segregated elementary students into single-sex classrooms.

Several years ago, Middleton Heights Elementary was among the dozens of public schools targeted by the American Civil Liberties Union over whether single-sex learning should be continued.

According to the Department of Education, Idaho school officials violated Title IX -- a federal law banning sex discrimination in education -- because they failed to adequately justify the need to separate boys from the girls for all school subjects in all grades.

The Middleton school implemented the change in 2006, but agreed to stop doing so this year as a result of the federal investigation.

Late Wednesday, District Superintendent Dr. Josh Middleton released this statement to the media. “The Middleton School District recently reached a resolution agreement with the Office of Civil Rights regarding instruction in single gender classrooms. There are currently no single-gender classrooms nor is there any intention of having single gender classes in the immediate future. The district acknowledges that if the practice was to be implemented again, OCR-approved training would be required.  In the meantime, the outstanding educators of Middleton School District strive to meet and exceed its mission of 'Every Child Learning Every Day.'"

(Associated Press contributed to this story)