Arlington Public Schools and Fairfax County Public Schools sued the Department of Education on Friday after the federal agency threatened funding losses over the Virginia school districts’ policies regarding transgender students.
The Education Department said five school districts in Northern Virginia were at risk of losing funding over their refusal to change policies that allow transgender students in the bathrooms and locker rooms of their choosing.
The department put the districts under a “high-risk” designation that Arlington Public Schools said effectively froze $23 million in funds.
The lawsuit challenges the department’s argument that the districts are in violation of Title IX, asserts the federal agency violated the law and asks for the designation to be removed.
“This lawsuit is an important step in our effort to protect the health and safety of all our students in alignment with state and federal law — to ensure that hungry children are fed and that student access to multilingual, special education, and other essential services is not compromised,” the Fairfax County School Board said in a statement.
The Hill has reached out to the Education Department for comment.
“States and school districts cannot openly violate federal law while simultaneously receiving federal funding with no additional scrutiny. The Northern Virginia 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,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said when the “high-risk” status was placed on the districts.
