TRUCKEE, Calif. – Outside attorneys and the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District’s legal counsel may confer following last night’s board meeting, which discussed the California Department of Education’s (CDE) mandated league switch.

For close to a year, the district has been wrestling with an unprecedented quandary of moving from the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA) to the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) after the NIAA changed a rule in April of last year, requiring athletes to participate by sex assigned at birth. That rule change is counter to California’s gender rights laws, placing the district in a conflicting situation.

Update

The evening’s discussion on the CIF switch began when Superintendent Kerstin Kramer provided an update, explaining that the school district is sticking to a two-year transition plan, targeting CIF affiliation beginning the 2028-2029 school year.

The district is holding to this plan despite the CDE calling for the switch by the 2027-2028 school year.

“Even though they granted us the one-year extension,” Kramer said at the meeting, “the district maintains that if the switch to CIF is going to be required and enforced, then it’s in the best interest of our student athletes to participate in the regular CIF realignment process. This means that [the] 28-29 school year is when we would begin our CIF membership.”

This two-year timeline allows varsity students time to conclude their athletics in the NIAA and incoming students time to consider options, such as a variance. Kramer acknowledged that two years does not change many parents’ concerns about commuting over the summit, but that it does give them time to update their athletic vans.

Kramer addressed the uncertainty with the switch as federal cases loom, but said the district is using the time to prepare for the switch with the understanding that circumstances could change.

Students express impacts to moral

During public comment, multiple students raised concerns about how the change, resulting in longer drives, would impact their schedule. The extra travel time would cause them to get home around midnight, just to be at school around 7 a.m. That’s on top of other impacts such as losing out on playing other sports due to CIF’s schedule, less competitive opportunities, as well as other impacts.

In a first-person statement on how those impacts would eventually impact mental and physical health, one eighth-grader told the board, “I don’t quit loudly. I quit quietly. I hand in my jersey, and I tell my coach I need to focus on school. No one writes a letter about me. No statistic captures what happens, and the board never hears my name.”

Differing strategies

Todd and Hien Winter, local attorneys and TTUSD athlete parents, have been vocal about the CDE’s mandated switch at board meetings, offering legal strategies during public comment. This includes a legislative fix that seeks a rural exemption to the California laws driving the mandate.

At last night’s meeting, they also reiterated their advice that the district pursue a stay with the court, a judicial remedy that would protect the district while the federal cases play out.

The school district has so far not pursued that avenue and has engaged with the CDE in correspondence regarding corrective action timelines, which are provided on TTUSD’s athletic webpage.

Many parents expressed support for Winter’s plan during comment.

Opportunity to talk

After hearing both feedback and criticism, including being accused of inaction, board member Denyelle Nishimori expressed how the district didn’t choose to be in this situation. She pointed to early discussions that sought a path where no student is left behind; however, now they are trying to navigate the difficult reality where that might not be possible.

In light of the differing legal strategies being presented and in the spirit of working together, Nishimori said, “If we’re not providing an opportunity for the Winters to talk with our attorneys, I think that’s a missed opportunity because maybe there is stuff being lost in translation that I don’t understand or that we’re just collectively not understanding.”

Other board members agreed and thanked the public, particularly students, for expressing their frustrations and passion.

“I hope that the students present can look beyond the threats,” Cris Hennessey said, “and the culpability that is being presented because we do care about you.”

District high schools will be hosting the following informational sessions on the CIF transition.

• North Tahoe High School: Wednesday, March 25, 6 p.m.
• Truckee High School: Tuesday, March 31, 6 p.m.

The school district is also developing a Community Athletic Committee to help guide the transition and is accepting applications and nominations through a form on their website by March 22.