PIAA administrator cautions WPIAL schools after Justice Department sues Maine over transgender policy

By: Chris Harlan
Wednesday, April 16, 2025 | 4:37 PM

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A few hours after the Justice Department said it was suing Maine over its transgender athlete policy, PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi cautioned WPIAL schools to discuss the topic with their solicitors.

“The White House is using Title IX and the Civil Rights Act to really make sure that people are trying to adhere to not having boys play girls sports,” said Lombardi, who spoke Wednesday to school administrators at the WPIAL annual meeting.

Lombardi said the PIAA’s updated policy determines male or female based on a student’s “sex.”

Along with his role as the PIAA’s top administrator, Lombardi is serving this year as board president of the National Federation of State High School Associations. He joined the WPIAL’s online meeting from Indianapolis while attending the NFHS Summit and Legal Meeting.

“Sitting here with 51 state associations and Maine just got another ‘Dear Colleague’ letter from the Department of Justice, I believe just this morning,” Lombardi said.

The Justice Department said it was suing Maine’s education department for not complying with a Trump Administration directive banning transgender athletes from competing in girls and women’s sports. The administration’s efforts started with executive orders signed by President Donald Trump in early February.

Those orders led the PIAA to make several previously announced changes to its transgender policy that Lombardi recapped Wednesday. The PIAA eliminated a one-sentence reference to transgender athletes from its handbook and changed language elsewhere to say athletes must be classified by “sex” rather than “gender.”

The new PIAA policy also urged schools to speak with their legal council.

“Our board’s position was, we didn’t want to put any of you in peril with federal funding,” Lombardi said Wednesday. “Make sure you check with your solicitor on what you’re doing. The mixed gender policy is still in effect … but it’s not based on gender identity anymore. It’s based on sex.”

Previously, the PIAA allowed transgender girls to complete in the state championship if a school’s principal designated the student’s gender as female.

The PIAA mixed gender policy now says: “Where a student’s sex is questioned or uncertain, the decision of the school as to the student’s sex will be accepted by PIAA. In accordance with the Presidential Executive Order 14201 entitled ‘Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports’ … schools are required to consult with their school solicitors relative to compliance with the Order.”

Lombardi noted that the state Senate education committee approved legislation that would ban boys from girls sports, but that bill was not yet considered by the full Senate. Named the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” the legislation was approved with a 7-4 vote March 26.

Introduced by state Sen. Judy Ward (R-Blair), the act says in part: “Athletic teams or sports designated for females, women or girls … may not be open to students of the male sex.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.