Five Northern Virginia school divisions that refused to change their gender policies over the use of bathrooms and locker rooms have been placed on “high-risk status” by the U.S. Department of Education and will have their federal reimbursement requests scrutinized.
In a news release, the federal agency said the school districts will be placed on “reimbursement status” for funding, including formula funding, discretionary grants and impact aid grants. Schools in Loudoun, Fairfax, Prince William and Arlington counties and the City of Alexandria will have to pay up front and then request reimbursement, the department said.
The announcement comes days after the districts all announced they wouldn’t make changes to their policies for intimate facilities, such as restrooms and locker rooms. The Education Department requested they do so, saying policies that allow students to use bathrooms based on gender identity rather than biological sex violated Title IX.
The divisions, however, said their current practices are in compliance with the law.
“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,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in the release.
Prince William County School Board Chairman Babur Lateef said the federal agency already approves its reimbursement requests based on spending for special education and Title IX. However, he said, $50 million could be at risk for Virginia’s second-largest school system.
“Now, they’re saying they will scrutinize all our reimbursements at a level to determine if we are compliant with federal laws, and we’re assuming that, since they don’t believe we’re compliant, they are likely to withhold money to our school divisions for our Title I monies and students for disabilities,” Lateef told WTOP. “We don’t believe they are allowed to do that, but it looks like that’s what they are going to try to do.”
Prince William, Lateef said, is “willing to do whatever it takes to protect our federal funds and we’re looking at different options.”
Meanwhile, Fairfax County Public Schools said it received the DOE’s letter just after 4 p.m. Tuesday. On Friday, the original deadline for divisions to change their policies, Fairfax responded with information about why its existing practices are consistent with state and federal law, the division said in a statement.
In that message, Fairfax “also requested the Department of Education stop further action while this issue is clarified by the courts.”
The school district said it’s reviewing the new letter in detail, and while the issue is pending, policies will stay aligned with state law and a ruling from the federal Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
“Any student who has a need or desire for increased privacy, regardless of the underlying reason, shall continue to be provided with reasonable accommodations,” Fairfax County schools said.
A spokesman for Loudoun County Public Schools, meanwhile, said the division doesn’t believe it’s in violation of Title IX: “LCPS disputes that we have engaged in activity that would warrant being characterized as a ‘high-risk’ grantee and will consider appropriate next steps.”
The City of Alexandria school system told WTOP that it’s reviewing the correspondence from the Education Department.
WTOP has contacted Arlington County Public Schools for comment.