Activists and Community Members Debate Resolution at Contentious School Board Meeting 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Springs High School auditorium was packed last Thursday night with a divided crowd of attendees that debated a recent resolution passed by the school board that reaffirmed the district’s support for, among other things, transgender students’ ability to participate in sports consistent with their gender identity.

The resolution did not change any of the district’s existing policies, but it did attract the attention of many locals and even national political activists such as the conservative X account “Libs of TikTok,” which accused the Saratoga Springs School District of supporting “radical gender ideology” in a post that garnered hundreds of thousands of views. 

It also attracted the attention of the Riley Gaines Center, which sent its Ambassador Kaitlynn Wheeler to the April 10 Saratoga school board meeting. Wheeler, who advocates for “fairness and the protection of female athletes,” said in a press release that the board had departed from federal protections designed to ensure fairness in women’s sports.

“As someone who has experienced firsthand the importance of fair competition, I am deeply concerned about policies that undermine opportunities for female athletes,” Wheeler said.

Wheeler is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and a former member of the women’s swim team alongside Riley Gaines. According to Wheeler, she was “violated” when a transgender athlete was allowed to undress with her and her teammates at the 2022 NCAA championships. The incident was partly what inspired Wheeler to become “a fierce advocate for upholding our freedoms and rights to privacy, safety, and equal opportunity.”

Wheeler’s visit caused community members on both sides of the trans athletes debate to attend the April 10 meeting, where they offered their often passionate opinions during public comment periods.

“Boys do not belong in girls’ bathrooms, locker rooms, or sports, period,” Wheeler said at the meeting. “No resolution, no board has the right to rewrite federal law. No state is absolved from following federal law.”

Wheeler continued speaking after her allotted time, causing the auditorium to erupt in commotion as School Board President Anjeanette Emeka repeatedly told Wheeler that her time had expired. Many attendees cheered when Wheeler concluded her remarks.

Saratoga Springs High School student Sarah Pipino thanked the board for passing the resolution.

“There are a lot of people who are very scared to speak at meetings and I’m friends with a lot of those people and we’ve been talking a lot and they feel more safe and accepted and loved in the community and they are so grateful, so I am saying ‘thank you’ from all of them who have talked to me,” Pipino said to a round of applause.

Dr. Emanuel Cirenza, the district’s physician advisor, said that “to a large extent, this is very much a manufactured controversy…I’ve been here for coming up on 28 years and this issue has come up one time to my knowledge. I did a little investigating, and it was a track athlete essentially trying to get onto a team where nobody was pushed out and nobody was made to feel uncomfortable. These issues have always been handled, I can reassure everybody in this room, with the greatest amount of sensitivity to everybody’s needs.”

The controversial resolution at the center of the debate, titled “Affirming Our Support for Every Student,” states, among other things, that the Board of Education would:

• reaffirm its support for the district’s policy and regulation 0105 titled “Equity, Inclusivity, and Diversity in Education”
• uphold New York State laws safeguarding vulnerable populations and not comply with directives that violate civil rights protections;
• affirm that every student has a right to an education regardless of immigration status, and that law enforcement officers may not question students on school property except under very specific conditions;
• respect students’ chosen names and pronouns while also ensuring their right to use facilities and participate in activities and sports consistent with their gender identity.

The resolution appeared to be a clear attempt to combat several Trump administration policies that threaten to rescind federal funds from educational institutions that don’t comply with the president’s orders. According to Board Vice President Tony Krackeler, $3.1 million of the district’s 2024-25 budget came from the federal government. All of those funds, Krackeler said, are only amendable by an act of Congress.