The Department of Education has given five northern Virginia school districts a deadline of ten days to address their transgender bathroom policies or face “enforcement action,” the agency announced on Friday.
An investigation conducted by the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights found that public school districts in Loudoun County, Fairfax County, Prince William County, Alexandria City, and Arlington were all in violation of Title IX. This investigation began in February and was based on complaints alleging that the districts had anti-discrimination policies related to transgender-identifying students that violated the sex-based protections of Title IX.
The Department of Education referenced a June ruling by the Supreme Court, which recognized that a person’s identification as “transgender” is separate from their biological sex.
“The [school districts] are also the subject of several lawsuits, informal complaints, and reports, which allege that students avoid using school restrooms due to the policies in place, and that there have been instances of inappropriate behavior in locker rooms,” the release stated.
Craig Trainor, the Department of Education’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights, criticized the Biden administration for allowing such behavior to continue, calling for an end to “northern Virginia’s experiment with radical gender ideology.”
In response to the non-compliance findings, the Department of Education issued proposed resolution agreements to each school district. These agreements require the districts to rescind any policies that allow students to access facilities based on their preferred gender identity rather than their biological sex.
The resolution agreements also mandate that the districts issue letters to each school within their jurisdiction, clarifying that future policies must separate students based on sex, not gender identity. Additionally, the districts must adopt “biology-based definitions” of the terms “male” and “female” for all practices and policies.
The Department of Education has given the school districts 10 days to agree to these terms voluntarily or face potential consequences, including referral to the Department of Justice.
All the school districts have acknowledged receipt of the resolution agreements and are currently reviewing them to determine their next steps. They have expressed a commitment to following federal and state laws while creating a welcoming, inclusive, and supportive environment for students.
