The family says their 11-year-old shared a hotel bed with a transgender student on a class trip; the district says staff reassigned rooms once concerns surfaced.
GOLDEN, CO — A Colorado couple is suing Jefferson County Public Schools, alleging their 11-year-old daughter was assigned to share a hotel bed with a transgender student during a 2023 school trip to Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. The lawsuit argues the district misled parents about how roommates would be assigned and violated the child’s privacy and religious rights.
The case centers on Jeffco Public Schools’ guidance for overnight field trips, which allows students to be placed in rooms according to the gender they live as at school. The parents, Joe and Serena Wailes, say they were told boys and girls would be separated by floors, and that they were not informed that the district’s definition of “girl” includes transgender girls. The dispute has become a test of how districts balance privacy, safety and anti-discrimination rules as federal authorities and courts weigh competing interpretations of sex and gender under Title IX. The district says it supports all students and adjusts rooming when issues arise.
According to the complaint, the daughter had completed fifth grade and traveled with classmates during the summer of 2023. The parents say their child was assigned to a two-bed room with three other students, including a transgender girl from another Jeffco school. The Wailes allege their daughter ended up sharing one of the beds with the transgender student for at least one night before chaperones were alerted. The next day, after the parents contacted staff, the transgender student was moved to a different room, the lawsuit states. “No child should be forced to share intimate spaces with the opposite sex,” the parents said in a sworn filing. Jeffco officials have said the district was not told about the student’s transgender status when rooms were first assigned and that staff acted to change arrangements as soon as they learned of the concern.
The Wailes and several other families first pressed the district in letters and meetings that fall, asking for an opt-out that would guarantee their children would room only with peers of the same sex at birth. After those requests were denied, the families filed suit in federal court, arguing that the rooming policy infringes on parental rights, children’s privacy, and the families’ religious beliefs. Their attorneys say the policy also withholds “material information” from parents because it describes boys and girls as being separated overnight without explaining that room assignments follow gender identity. Jeffco, Colorado’s second-largest district with roughly 72,000 students, has defended its approach as consistent with its nondiscrimination rules and with how schools house students who live and attend classes as girls or boys for months or years before a trip.
District leaders say staff train chaperones on privacy and safety, provide individual accommodations when requested, and try to avoid singling out any student. In statements since 2023, officials said the goal is to “maximize social integration, ensure safety and comfort, and minimize stigmatization” for all participants. The Wailes counter that parents cannot make informed choices if they are not told how the policy works in practice, especially for elementary-age students sharing beds. They point to the trip’s itinerary and room charts as evidence that parents were assured of separation by sex but never warned that the district uses gender identity for rooming. The lawsuit says the family’s daughter felt confused and embarrassed and that the incident strained relationships among the four students assigned to the room. The filing does not allege any assault.
The case has played out alongside wider legal and political fights over Title IX, the federal law banning sex discrimination in education. In June, the U.S. Department of Education opened an investigation into Jeffco’s overnight rooming practices after receiving complaints that the district “misleads parents” about bed and roommate assignments. In August, a federal judge in Colorado dismissed a broader parents’ lawsuit challenging the district’s policy, finding the claims insufficient under existing precedent. The parents’ attorneys have appealed, and a new brief filed this month presses the argument that districts must at least inform families how roommates are chosen and allow opt-outs. The district has said it will respond in court and declined to comment on pending litigation.
Records filed with the court describe the 2023 trip as a multi-school tour that placed students in hotel rooms of four, with two beds per room. The Wailes say they learned about the transgender roommate from their daughter after the first night, then contacted a chaperone and a school administrator. Emails in the court file show staff discussing a prompt reassignment the next day. The parents say the experience left their child anxious about future trips and that they withdrew permission for overnight events. Supporters of the policy say transgender students should not be singled out or forced to sleep apart because that can create safety risks and stigma for a small group of students.
Past cases in other states have reached mixed results, but several courts have given districts leeway to set administrative policies for day-to-day school operations, including how staff handle names, pronouns and housing on trips. The Jeffco dispute differs in its focus on bed and roommate assignments for preteens, a detail that has sharpened public reaction at school board meetings. The Wailes’ attorneys say elementary trips raise distinct privacy concerns because students often share beds. District officials note that chaperones can request cots or adjust rooming if a child asks for additional privacy, and that staff try to communicate with families about special circumstances in advance while also respecting student confidentiality where required by law.
Next steps will unfold on multiple tracks. The Education Department’s civil rights office is reviewing complaints tied to Jeffco’s policy and could issue findings or a resolution agreement. In the separate federal lawsuit, the parents’ appeal is now before the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; briefing deadlines are scheduled through winter, and oral argument could follow. Locally, Jeffco staff plan to revisit overnight trip guidance as spring travel season approaches, according to district meeting agendas, though no formal changes have been announced. Any revisions would likely outline when parents are notified about rooming criteria and how families may request alternative arrangements without outing or isolating a transgender student.
Outside the courthouse, the case has drawn steady testimony from community members. Some parents told the board they want a default assignment by sex at birth with an opt-in for other placements. Others, including LGBTQ advocates and several Jeffco students, said the current approach treats transgender classmates the same as their peers and avoids stigmatizing them. “I just want to go on trips with my friends like everyone else,” one high school junior told the board at a recent meeting. After public comment ended, board members acknowledged the intensity of the debate and said they would follow legal guidance while aiming to keep trips “safe and inclusive.”
As of Tuesday, the district’s policy remains in place while litigation continues. A decision by federal civil rights officials or the appeals court would set the next milestone; district leaders say any procedural updates will be announced at a future board meeting once reviews are complete.
Author note: Last updated November 25, 2025.