PALATINE, Ill. – Officials at Illinois High School District 211 apparently meant it when they said they are prepared to stand their ground with the federal government over a controversy regarding a transgender boy’s ability to use the girls’ locker room and shower facility.

A settlement had been reached in the matter, but now school officials are accusing the federal government of backpedaling on the deal, and they say there may be no deal at all.

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Last week the school board approved a settlement allowing the student, who is a biological male, access to the girls’ facility. In exchange the student agreed to change in a private area, and shower in a segregated area, out of view of other students.

Those were the original conditions that the district had offered the student, so it appeared that the school was victorious, despite the federal government’s assertion that forcing the student to shower and change in private was a violation of a federal law designed to prevent gender discrimination in public schools.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights had threatened to withhold roughly $6 million per year in federal aid from the district if it failed to accommodate the student.

From the school’s standpoint, simply allowing the student access to the locker room represented a compromise. Many district residents have loudly insisted that biological boys belong in boys’ locker rooms, and vice versa.

But after the settlement was announced, a federal official issued a statement that seemed to suggest that the terms were blanket policy that would apply to all transgender students in the district, according to a story published by Advocate.com.

“I think each of us is diminished when we deprive somebody of civil rights, and I think this is a great day for students in the district and for students around the country to recognize that the federal government is here to support your rights,” Cathlerine Lhamon, the assistant secretary of the Office for Civil Rights, was quoted as saying by Advocate.com.

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That statement apparently also made district officials wonder if the feds recognized the part of the agreement that says the student must change and shower in private.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the agreement states that “Based on Student A’s representation that she will change in private stations in the girls’ locker room, the District agrees to provide Student A access to locker room facilities designed for female students at school.”

Some media reports have suggested that the feds agreed to that wording. But the Tribune reports that the government either insists – or did insist – that the student should have the right to choose whether or not to change and/ or shower in private.

In any case, the district superintendent now says the settlement may be null and void, according to Advocate.com.

“The OCR appears to be stating to the media what they wish was in the agreement, rather than what was actually agreed upon by both OCR and the District 211 Board of Education,” Daniel Cates, the superintendent of District 211, said in a prepared statement, according to Advocate.com. “It is wrong, it is an act of bad faith, and our school district will not let it stand.

“The resolution agreement’s provisions on locker room access, approved by our School Board just 36 hours ago, apply only to the student who lodged the complaint. It does not apply district-wide, nor set precedent for other school districts in the country. It gives this student access to the gender-identified locker room with this student’s stated assurance that privacy curtains will be used. And, if this student doesn’t comply, access will no longer be allowed. The agreement also removes the threat of the loss of federal funds and states that no violation of Title IX or discrimination by the District has occurred.

“We communicated to the OCR that we expected a full retraction of their inaccurate portrayal of the agreement in the media. They refused. Failing that, we will convene an emergency board meeting to discuss taking action, including retraction of the agreement because the OCR acted in bad faith.”