Monroe, Michigan — At its core, the fundamental failure of the investigative process was corrupted. School officials, entrusted with safeguarding young female athletes, instead orchestrated a process to excuse their own failures and prevent their political embarrassment.
“This issue is bigger than Monroe,” Lechner stated. “Families across Michigan and across the country are asking the same questions. Our daughters deserve clarity and they deserve to know that the adults in charge are looking out for them. If we don’t win this battle, it will be the death knell for women’s sports.”
ALERT
The final report of the so-called “investigation,” released April 9, 2026, never informed the public that Monroe Public Schools District’s own written policy allowed the transgender female on Ann Arbor Skyline’s team to compete against Monroe’s girls’ team and to use Monroe’s female locker rooms. That policy, based on President Biden’s executive orders, is easily found on the Monroe Public Schools District’s website and states:
“The Board of Education of Monroe Public Schools (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Board’ or ‘the District’) does not discriminate based on sex (including sexual orientation or gender identity), in its education programs or activities. (emphasis added)
“I will continue the fight to rescind this policy and replace it with the concepts contained in President Trump’s Executive Orders, Nos. 14201 and 14168,” stated Lechner.
“It’s noteworthy that in all my communications with the Board President, Tom Heck, and the District Superintendent, Andrew Shaw, not one mention was made of the above policy. Nor did the supposed detailed analysis of the issues contained in the final report mention it,” said Lechner.
The School District has two Title IX compliance officers and a School Board Attorney. These officials already knew of the policy or could have found it in ten minutes. So why did the School District pay thousands of dollars to outside attorneys? “This was never about finding the truth. It was about protecting the school officials while parents, their children, and taxpayers paid the price,” said Richard Thompson, Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), a national public interest law firm representing Sean Lechner and his minor daughter.
The School District’s new Locker Room Policy validates Lechner’s concerns. By announcing the new policy that the District has decided to no longer allow “shared locker rooms with opposing teams,” Lechner pointed out that “if there was truly nothing wrong with what happened, there would be no reason to change the locker room policy.” Lechner said, “This change shows that the School District recognizes that the situation should have been handled differently.”
Significantly, the Final Report never mentions that President Trump’s Executive Order No. 14201, Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports, totally bans men from playing in women’s sports. Executive Order No. 14201 provides that:
Allowing men to compete in women’s sports is demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls, and denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports.
It is the policy of the United States to rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities, which results in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy.
It shall also be the policy of the United States to oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports more broadly, as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity and truth.
Officials in his administration are to take the affirmative action to protect all female athletic opportunities and all female locker rooms.
Lechner reiterated the central issues at the heart of his complaint were that during the September 9, 2025 volleyball match between Monroe High School and Ann Arbor Skyline High School, parents and student athletes at Monroe were not informed in advance that a male was competing on the opposing team and that the Skyline team, which included the male, shared the same locker room as the Monroe team. He maintains that these circumstances constitute failures of transparency and protocol that put students’ privacy at risk.
“I filed this complaint not to target any individual student, but to hold school administrators and elected officials accountable for denying families the information they needed to make informed decisions,” Lechner said. “Every parent has a right to know that their child’s privacy and safety are being prioritized.”
The School District’s claim to parents that it shared its final report with Mr. Lechner’s attorney is false. Lechner’s attorney did not receive any of the statements taken by the investigating attorneys. He did not receive copies of any of the correspondence, emails, or videos relating to their investigation. He did not receive a copy of Mr. DeNault’s recommendation to the Superintendent. And he did not receive any statement which may have been taken from Athletic Director, Chet Hesson.
The final report is replete with conclusions, unsupported by any facts. The Thomas More Law Center has raised the issues concerning Lechner in its objection and appeal letter to the Superintendent submitted on April 13, 2026.
The Thomas More Law Center, a national nonprofit public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor Michigan, is committed to upholding American values rooted in Judeo-Christian heritage protecting free speech and religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and a free and independent United States. It does not charge for its services. You may reach the Thomas More Law Center at (734) 827-2001 or visit our website at www.thomasmore.org.
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