was appointed district Attorney of Ashland County before running for Congress in Watertown, emotions ran high at the Board of Education meeting on Monday as a controversial decision was made regarding transgender students "Here& Now".

Reporter Aditi Debnath was there and has the details.

>> It was a packed house at Riverside Middle School Monday, as the Watertown School board voted on a new gender support plan that significantly changes policies for transgender students.

The meeting drew hundreds of attendees, with the cafeteria and a secondary overflow room filled to capacit.

Many in the audience held signs reading Vote See, urging the board to adopt.

The more restrictive option C plan.

And that's exactly what they did.

Board President David Schroeder explained the decision.

district and to protect the kids.

students to use bathrooms and participate in sports based on their gender assigned at birth.

Board member Tina Johnson was the only member to vote against plan C, praising current policies that defer to the student's preferences.

>> The administration and staff have done a great job in working with all kids.

They've done a great job with the transgender guidelines, and I will continue to support them.

>> Gender support plans, which can be more restrictive, like the one passed or more inclusive, are not new to Wisconsin schools.

Abigail Swetz is executive director of Fair Wisconsin, an LGBTQ plus civil rights organization and the best practices in a gender support plan, which many districts do have, is to ensure the safety of the child by working with the kid to figure out how to best talk to parents and then bring them into conversations.

The Watertown School district's previous policy, which had been in place for eight years, allowed transgender students more flexibility with options to use unisex restrooms or separate locker room schedules.

One Watertown student argues the majority of her peers aren't concerned about gender politics.

>> As a student in Watertown High School, I can say with full pride that I have met very few students who are bothered by transgender students.

>> Supporters of the plan point to safety concerns.

>> When you start putting men in women's girls bathrooms that are biologically male, you're going to have more than one lawsuit.

>> Mollie McQuillan is a social scientist at the UW-Madison School of Education.

She questions the legal validity of the policy.

>> I think that there's a lot of confusion among school boards and certainly among superintendents and principals and teachers, about what the law actually is.

>> She says that policies like plan C aren't legally binding due to a federal law called title nine.

>> Title nine.

Broadly speaking, is to prevent discrimination based on sex.

>> McQuillan says that two different title nine Circuit Court of Appeals decisions in 2017 and 2023 found that school policies that restrict which bathroom a student can use are not enforceable.

Board President Schrader acknowledges that this could change after president elect Trump takes office in January.

law today, in two months, it's likely going to change.

>> Any change made to title nine would take time to work its way through the political process.

But gender politics are front of mind for the new administration.

>> I will ask Congress to pass a bill establishing that the only genders recognized by the United States government are male and female, and they are assigned at birth.

The bill will also make clear that title nine prohibits men from participating in women's sports.

>> Swetz says that the change in administration only means rights advocates to do.

>> It is true that title nine protects LGBTQ plus students and staff.

We have civil rights, and no matter who occupies the white House, and our organizations are here to make sure those rights are respected.

>> Back in Watertown, it's now >> Back in Watertown, it's now