Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier issued a warning to the Alachua County School Board Friday afternoon following a “credible complaint” alleging two “biological boys” were housed in a second-grade girls’ cabin at Camp Crystal Lake, a public school summer camp operated by the district.
Uthmeier didn’t confirm in the letter whether the complaint was accurate but wrote, “We have no reason to doubt this complaint’s credibility.”
The practice violates Florida law and contradicts both the school board’s policies and the camp’s operational guidelines, he wrote.
The Attorney General’s Office of Parental Rights noted Florida law separates the private spaces of boys and girls. The Safety in Private Spaces Act mandates children be separated by biological sex as defined at birth in private spaces such as restrooms, changing facilities and overnight accommodations.
Uthmeier launched the Office of Parental Rights in late April. This “first-in-the-nation office” seeks to provide legal support to parents, according to a press release. Equipped with a portal for reports, the OPR complements existing state measures like the Parents’ Bill of Rights and the Parental Rights in Education Act.
The Alachua County School Board’s policy manual adopts the law’s definition of sex “verbatim,” Uthmeier wrote, and Camp Crystal Lake’s website states cabins are divided by sex and age, with girls and boys assigned to separate cabins.
Allowing male children to stay overnight in girls’ cabins compromises safety, disregards parents’ rights and violates longstanding norms intended to protect minors, he wrote.
He called the practice a “departure from the duty of care owed to children” and said his office won’t tolerate policies prioritizing “faddish ideology and social experimentation” over child safety.
Uthmeier ordered the school board and camp officials to immediately relocate the boys to the appropriate male cabins and to maintain sex-based separation in future camp sessions.
Failure to comply could prompt legal enforcement and potential liability for district officials, he added.
The letter was also copied to Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz.
ACPS Spokesperson Jackie Johnson wrote in an email families gave written and verbal permission for their children to be assigned to the same cabin with a camper who “identifies as a gender other than that assigned at birth,” per district protocols, she wrote.
“If the camper needs to change clothes, shower or use the restroom, that camper will do so in another cabin,” Johnson wrote. “There are four adults and two Counselors in Training assigned to the cabin, and there is constant supervision.”
Contact Sara-James Ranta at sranta@alligator.org. Follow her on X @sarajamesranta.
Sara-James Ranta is a journalism senior, minoring in sociology of social justice and policy. She previously served as Metro's K-12 education reporter. In her free time, SJ is watching a new show, listening to EDM or discussing Star Wars.
