Since the beginning of May, the Truckee Tahoe Unified School District (TTUSD) has been under scrutiny. The board has received calls and emails from the community with concerns about the possible repercussions of athletics transitioning from the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA) to the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), following a NIAA Board of Control decision dated April 2, 2025.
Superintendent Kirsten Kramer announced Friday, May 2 that TTUSD athletics would be moving from the NIAA to the CIF. Two board meetings were held since, on May 7 and May 14, that have addressed the matter. Both were characterized by high attendance, long duration, many public comments, and much controversy.
The Decision
Ultimately, the board decided at the end of their most recent meeting that they would delay the decision – either moving to CIF or remaining in the NIAA indefinitely – for a year. This means TTUSD will remain in the NIAA for the 2025-26 school year, but the board will be exploring solutions to enact for the following year.
“Time” was certainly the word of the evening at the May 14 board meeting. And all board members were in favor of granting it, just like commenter Tara Burns had encouraged early on. “It is time to demand time,” she stated.
To learn more about the basics of the initial announcement, check out this article. Here are the links to the May 7 meeting and the May 14 meeting.
On Wednesday, May 7 the Truckee Tahoe Unified School District (TTUSD) board met for one of their regular bimonthly meetings. However, by the size of the crowd, attendees could tell there was nothing regular about it.
The district office was bustling with students, parents, and community members who knew what they were there for. They were ready to hear first hand about the changes being made to athletics in the district. The sheer number of people that showed up filled the board room and also occupied countless overflow seats set up in the adjacent gym, where a TV broadcast the meeting from next door. The air in the crowded building felt tense, even hostile. It was clear attendees were seriously worried and shocked about TTUSD’s decision.
To start off the meeting on May 7, employees of the year were presented and awarded, including Truckee High’s Salvador “Sal” Guerrero Angel for Custodial and Maintenance Services. After awards were given out, Superintendent Kramer gave a presentation explaining the NIAA to CIF move.
“This was a difficult announcement for the community,” she stated in her introduction. While moving athletic leagues may not seem like a huge issue, for our small mountain town, sports are something of great importance. In Kramer’s presentation, it was made clear that our school has high numbers for athletic participation. 67% of North Tahoe High were registered school athletes, 59% for Truckee High. Many of those students also play multiple sports, possibly outside of school as well.
The superintendent stated later in the information that the NIAA would not allow any exceptions and that the choice to move was out of necessity, due to Nevada law conflicting with California law. According to an article in the Reno Gazette, a decision needed to be made by NIAA regarding the state’s new transgender policy. Nine of twelve on the board voted in favor of the policy, and it is believed that if they didn’t, they could lose federal funding.
One of the district’s roles is to ensure their schools are following legal code. As stated in their beliefs on their website, “The board of education is entrusted with the responsibility for setting policies and strategies that are consistent with these beliefs and assures the district meets its vision.” It is also made clear in the list that students are the top priority and “the focus of all decisions”.
After Kramer stated the facts, 29 people made public comments. From coaches to students to attorneys, even people without kids or students in the district, community members stepped up to the mic to have their voices heard. The entire televised portion of the meeting was just over three and a half hours, and the board also met in closed session an hour before that. Commenters at the May 7 meeting made it clear that, despite political views or sport of choice, the majority opposed TTUSD’s decision.
Some of the frequently discussed concerns were soccer moving to the winter (tennis would also be in the spring), travel over Donner Summit, multi-sport athletes having to choose a team, the loss of rivalries, and girls sports playing against non-biological females. Below some of the most prevalent topics are debriefed:
Privacy Rights of Student Athletes
One of the speakers who supported TTUSD’s choice was Zachary Balkin, who claimed he was an attorney practicing in Nevada. Balkin is indeed listed (here) as a litigation attorney for Lerner and Rowe, a law firm that specializes in personal injury cases with offices in Reno. Litigation attorneys handle the legal process of a variety of civil cases, according to O’Flaherty Law, a firm based in Wisconsin.
Balkin blamed the NIAA because of their decision to violate students’ privacy to play sports, based on a presidential executive order. He mentioned the requirement of physical genital examinations, possibly by professionals untrained in that area such as a chiropractor. Additionally, he states that if the practitioner cannot determine sex, then they could “order a genetic test on your child”. Balkin’s words were alarming and brought up questions for attendees.
Later commenters seemed to clear up the confusion by mentioning what they knew about the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Angela Diesch, Truckee Soccer Association treasurer and attorney stated, “you get to choose whether or not you waive your HIPAA privacy rights”. Eric Stendell, a local physician, also affirmed that HIPAA is a federal law that requires a form that practitioners sign.
On the Tahoe Forest Hospital District’s (TFHD) version of the form (obtained from TFHD Orthopedic and Sports Medicine website), it appears that the form could be filled out completely by the patient or their guardian. The required signature that Stendell referred to appears at the bottom of the form and reads “Signature of Patient or Authorized Representative”.
The Reno Gazette Journal states “When a claim is made about a student’s sex at birth, the NIAA will launch an investigation”. Said investigation would first include seeking out the student’s original birth certificate. If that can not be provided, NIAA attorney Paul Anderson claimed “the board might have to consider genetic testing.”
Fairness of Transgender Males Playing with Biological Female Athletes
Community member Dave Wilkinson brought up the numbers of transgender students in his public comments in both meetings. He said on the 14th, “we want to be kind to everybody, but not by sacrificing the majority”.
Courtney Delgado, Truckee High teacher and graduate, states, “I don’t know of any transgender athletes on our current girls sports rosters for the 24-25 season, but I believe that it has occurred in the past. However, it would be outing someone and violating their privacy to name someone.” Lots of numbers have been thrown around about how many transgender athletes are even in TTUSD; however, it is difficult to find a concrete statistic on that. All it takes is one transgender student to come into one of the district schools and want to play a sport to provide foundation for a lawsuit. Since we are in California, that lawsuit against our board would likely win.
May 14 commenter Chris Brown made an interesting point, saying, “you don’t have to be anti-trans to be anti-trans participation in girls sports”.
However, many attendees also brought up in the recent meetings that Title Nine, a nationwide law, is also a consideration. The Supremacy Clause in the US Constitution establishes that federal law always supersedes state legislation.
Danielle Cornette, a three sport Truckee High senior spoke at the May 7th meeting. She shared about her experience competing against a trans athlete in soccer, stating it “wasn’t a competition”. Although the shift will not affect her as Cornette is graduating, she felt the need to speak out. She has a freshmen sister who also played soccer for Truckee this fall.
Josh Birnbaum, a THS track coach, brought up another point about competition in girls sports when it involves biological males. He claimed that in NCAA sports, transgender men are not allowed to play female sports. As of February, the association stated, “Men’s category open to all eligible student-athletes, women’s category restricted to student-athletes assigned female at birth” (NCAA).
Issues with Trans Rights
There were no students that commented at either board meeting that identified as trans, but trans students definitely are present in the TTUSD school district. Jonathan Lowe, a TTUSD parent and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner at Tahoe Forest was one of the few that stood up for the transgender community in the district meetings.
He shared that sports are more than just about winning, but have historically been a vehicle for building community and social justice. Lowe also brought up something that made future commenters think twice before speaking: “I heard this a lot last time, that ‘I support this community… but’.” Beginning with that statement does show that the speaker is about to say there is something more important than their compassion for trans people.
The situation TTUSD athletics is in is unusual for many reasons, but one of the big ones is that the district schools are located in California butare in Nevada sports leagues. In this election cycle, California was a blue state and Nevada was a swing state. California’s policies are reflective of it being a very liberal state; transgender people have more rights than in other states. As previously mentioned, Nevada’s new law about transgender people in sports is restricting their rights based on an executive order.
Lowe also reminded attendees of this fact, announcing to the trans community, “Nevada broke up with us” and “Nevada is a chicken”, regarding the less competitive environment in the NIAA compared to the CIF.
It is important to address the undeniable impacts staying in the NIAA could and will have for trans students. Even if no legal action is taken against the school regarding civil rights, the decision is still symbolic. It shows the transgender community that there was something more important than including them.
Board member Pat Mooney said it well in the conclusion of the May 14 meeting, “every transgender student we have in this district will know that they have been excluded”. He said unfortunately we are asking the question of, “Which kids are we going to protect?”
North Tahoe student and multi-sport athlete Valerie Laguna also expressed concerns about the discriminatory new NIAA policy. She was deeply hurt by the way trans students were being talked about. “No sport is more important than someone’s right to feel safe and included,” Laguna said in her emotional statement.
The Consequences for Tennis and Soccer
Some sports would be disproportionately impacted by a transition to CIF. Soccer would move from fall to winter and boys tennis would shift from fall to spring (girls tennis would remain in the fall). Boys soccer currently has a 53% win rate and girls soccer’s rate is 75%. Both tennis teams made it to regionals this past season, and the girls won states.
In the second board meeting, Chief Business Officer Todd Rivera presented a variety of facilities solutions that could get soccer, tennis, and other sports – namely those in the winter and spring – practicing indoors. However, those solutions would be costly to implement, maintain, and would be tough to get approval for among other things. Most, if not all, home games would be sacrificed for Truckee soccer teams, and boys tennis would be in a similar situation.
Truckee varsity boys tennis players Andrew Buchanan and Ethan McCormick gave TTUSD more insight into why their program is in jeopardy. The teams currently practice and play at Tahoe Donner’s private courts, which seem to be the only ones that accommodate their needs. McCormick mentioned that those facilities only recently opened on Friday, May 9 post-winter and “it’s already regionals and playoffs for spring season teams”.
Dylan Baird, a Truckee tennis and golf athlete also commented at the May 14th meeting. Baird is one of the students who will have to choose between his two sports. “I have a disability and these are the two sports that I can play,” Dylan stated. He explained that sports are very important to him, not only for fun but also as a social outlet. Baird also voiced that if TTUSD moves to CIF, tennis will likely lose many of their players to spring sports.
Donner Summit Winter Travel
Jim Bennett, THS athletic director, presented that “if we move… we would be placed in the Foothill Valley league”. However, there is also the Pioneer Valley of CIF that would be a much better fit for Truckee, based on enrollment and competition, where teams would compete with places like Colfax and Bear River. CIF could not make that league work for the 2025-26 season, but the district could be placed in it for the 2026-27 season. TTUSD collected data that showed that there would be serious reductions in miles traveled if we moved to the Foothill Valley or Pioneer Valley CIF league, but travel could prove more difficult with snow. North Tahoe High, on the other hand, would move to the Sierra Delta league which would be good for their size, competition, would reduce travel, and offer soccer in all three seasons.
Due to the unpredictable winters that are the norm in Truckee, summit travel and I-80 closures are a big concern. It was brought up countless times from community members that they feel comfortable with snow driving, it is the away teams coming to our area that would be dangerous. The board established Donner Trail Elementary on the summit as a safe place for teams to stay if they got stuck in transit.
Overall Dissatisfaction with TTUSD
In the first board meeting of the month, parent and 2005 TTUSD graduate Christina Martinez was clearly outraged at the way the situation was being handled. “If you guys are not capable to stand up for our kids, I feel like you guys are in the wrong board meeting and on the wrong board,” she stated at the end of her comment. Martinez was also disappointed in the lack of translation services provided at the meeting, something that should be a given with our district’s large Spanish-speaking population. “It is very disrespectful that you guys are here supporting the minority and you guys don’t have a translator here for Hispanic moms that don’t speak English.” Board member Chris Hennessey apologized for the mistake and translation was provided in the May 14 meeting.
Bobby Shaffer, son of legendary Truckee Football coach Bob Shaffer, implored the board to listen to the students who have been shaped by the sports that they play. Shaffer recalled the impact his dad had on kids in the community before his death in 2017, sharing that he inspired him to continue coaching. He was one of many in support of delaying the decision.
Conclusion
The recent TTUSD athletics debacle brought many issues to the forefront in two May board meetings in the Truckee district office. The controversy between transgender rights and fairness in female sports, the logistics of our unique mountain weather, the legality of privacy in the health system, and the emotions of countless students that may lose the sport (or sports) they love.
May 7 commenter Beth Curtis summed it up well. She said, “sports make this town.” That was also made alarmingly clear in the level of public participation and input in the whole process so far.
The pride in athletics is one of many factors that makes TTUSD unique. Truckee, and the entire TTUSD community, is centered around the outdoors. Kids in the area typically progress and excel in a variety of sports from a young age. Board member Danielle Nishimori reminded, “we are not a one-size-fits-all and we never will be”.
The one year delay will allow TTUSD to obtain increased input from a variety of perspectives and to learn more about legal solutions. Whether it was the right decision or not is yet to be seen.