Metro Weekly

Feds to Cut Funds for 5 Pro-LGBTQ Virginia School Districts

Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William schools refused federal demands to roll back transgender-inclusive policies.

U.S. Department of Education – Photo: Greggory DiSalvo via iStockphoto

The U.S. Department of Education says it will begin suspending or cutting off federal funds to five Northern Virginia school districts that refused to roll back transgender-inclusive policies by an August 15 deadline.

“The Virginia districts will have to defend their embrace of radical gender ideology over ensuring the safety of their students,” the agency wrote in a statement.

The five districts — Alexandria City, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Loudoun County, and Prince William County public schools — were previously threatened with losing federal funding after the Education Department determined that their trans-affirming policies, including allowing transgender students to use restrooms matching their gender identity, infringe on the rights of non-transgender students.

The districts were given 10 days to comply with the directive, which required them to rescind their transgender-inclusive policies. The department also asked them to sign a resolution enforcing Title IX — the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in federally funded schools — based on students’ biological sex, in line with a Trump executive order that recognizes only two sexes and denies transgender identity.

The districts faced a dilemma: comply with the Education Department’s demands and violate a binding appeals court decision, or refuse to sign the resolution and keep their policies, which the department argues violates Title IX.

“For us, it’s about following the law. That’s more important than making any type of political statement,” Dr. Babur Lateef, president of the Prince William County School Board, told NBC Washington affiliate WRC-TV. He was referring to the Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board case, in which the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that Gloucester County discriminated against a transgender student, Gavin Grimm, by barring him from the boys’ restroom and forcing him to use a converted broom closet as a unisex facility.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the case after the Gloucester County School Board appealed, and the board later settled with Grimm for $1.3 million.

“We believe we are currently following all of the laws, both state and federal, regarding Title IX in our treatment of all students, including our trans students,” Lateef added. “We have notified the Department of Education that we believe we are in compliance with the law and if we change to what they have asked us to do, we will not be in compliance with the law and we will be liable.”

Lateef said Prince William Public Schools repeatedly asked to meet with Education Department officials to discuss their concerns and the liability they could face if the policy were repealed and challenged in court. The department did not respond to those requests.

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, a Republican, said he believes the Trump administration’s interpretation of Title IX is correct and that the five districts are in the wrong.

“In my opinion, they are in violation of Title IX,” he told WRC-TV. “I think this is a great example of being so open-minded that your brain falls out. Their first priority should be…making sure our women keep their safe spaces.”

For now, all five districts have told students and parents that their transgender-inclusive policies will remain in place.

Several Northern Virginia LGBTQ groups praised the school boards for standing firm, calling the Education Department’s demands illegal and discriminatory. In a letter backed by thousands of signatures and emails, they urged districts to maintain inclusive policies that protect transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive students.

“Thank you for standing up to federal bullying, for your commitment to following federal and Virginia law, and for your decision to maintain nondiscrimination policies that protect transgender, nonbinary, and gender expansive students,” the letter reads.

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