The Department of Education will withhold federal funding from Fairfax County Public Schools after the school district refused to amend its policies that allow students to use the locker rooms and restrooms that correspond with their gender identity.
The DOE gave three U.S. school districts — FCPS, New York City Schools, and Chicago Public Schools — a Tuesday deadline to change their policies or risk losing specialty funding for magnet schools.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon posted on social media that the department “will not certify that Magnet Schools in New York City, Chicago, & Fairfax Public Schools are following the law when they are clearly not.” None of the districts have complied.
FCPS is now set to lose about $3.4 million in funding from the Magnet School Assistance Program. FCPS was the only NoVA school district that received funding from this program last year. The funds assist schools like Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. The new fiscal year starts October 1.
WTOP reported that FCPS submitted a “reimbursement request for a small amount,” which the DOE denied, according to a “person familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly.”
Funding Stand-Off
Earlier this year, the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights found that the locker room policies at FCPS — along with Arlington, Loudoun, Alexandria, and Prince William school districts — violated Title IX. It demanded that those districts change their policies or lose federal funding. In the case of FCPS, up to $167 million was at stake.
All five districts refused to amend the policies, citing the Fourth Circuit’s decision in Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board. The districts were then placed on a “high-risk” status. This status mean they would have to request reimbursement for payments rather than receiving funding up front.
FCPS filed an emergency injunction, asking the court to reverse the DOE’s ruling and stop the suspension of funding. The DOE countered, and FCPS yesterday filed another response “citing our continued compliance with state and federal laws,” according to a statement from FCPS superintendent Michelle Reid.
Feature image courtesy Thomas Jefferson High School For Science and Technology
