The Department of Education warned five Northern Virginia school districts Tuesday that they face the suspension or termination of millions in federal funding for refusing to comply with federal guidance on transgender student policies.
The school districts of Loudoun, Fairfax, Prince William, Arlington, and Alexandria have defied demands to change their bathroom and locker room policies. The districts allow transgender students to use facilities consistent with their gender identity, a stance that no longer adheres to Title IX following changes made after President Donald Trump began his second term.
“States and school districts cannot openly violate federal law while simultaneously receiving federal funding with no additional scrutiny,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in statement in a news release. “The Northern Viriginia School Divisions that are choosing to abide by woke gender ideology in place of federal law must now prove they are using every single federal dollar for a legal purpose.
“We have given these Northern Virginia School Divisions every opportunity to rectify their policies which blatantly violate Title IX. Today’s accountability measures are necessary because they have stubbornly refused to provide a safe environment for young women in their schools.”
The Department of Education placed the five school districts under “high-risk” and reimbursement payment status, meaning they must now pay their education expenses upfront and then apply for federal reimbursement, a process that allows the Education Department to review and approve expenditures closely before funds are released.
Department officials said the “high-risk” label also makes it more difficult for the districts to obtain new federal grant money, further tightening oversight, the Washington Examiner reported. Administrative proceedings are also underway that could suspend or terminate federal financial assistance entirely if the districts reject compliance.
On July 25, the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights concluded its investigation of the districts and found that they violated Title IX by allowing students to “occupy intimate facilities based on ‘gender identity,’ not biological sex.” The office granted the districts’ request for an extension to reach a voluntary resolution or agree to the government’s proposed agreement to resolve their Title IX violations.
But on Friday, all five school districts formally rejected the federal government’s request that they change their policies, the Examiner reported. The districts said if they were to comply with the order, they would violate binding precedent from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which protects transgender students’ access to facilities.
That precedent traces to the landmark case of Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board. In 2016, the 4th Circuit initially ruled in favor of a transgender student who sought the right to use bathrooms consistent with the student’s gender identity.
The Supreme Court in 2017 agreed to hear the case but sent it back to the lower courts for another look without hearing oral arguments after the first Trump administration rescinded the Education Department guidance on which the 4th Circuit relied in ordering the transgender student to use the boys’ restroom.
In 2020, the 4th Circuit reaffirmed its ruling based on constitutional and Title IX issues, and the Supreme Court in 2021 declined to take the case on appeal.
The dispute intensified recently after two Loudoun County boys at Stone Bridge High School were suspended for confronting a transgender student in the boys’ locker room, a student who, according to reports, recorded them on video in violation of school policy.
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