D.C. Area Superintendent Refuses to Comply with Federal Mandates

Washington D.C.— On August 15, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid informed parents that FCPS would continue enforcing transgender student policies that the U.S. Department of Education advised are unlawful under Title IX, thereby jeopardizing the district’s access to $160 million in federal education dollars.

In response, America First Policy Institute (AFPI) today issued the following statement from Leigh Ann O’Neill, chief of staff for the Center for Litigation and senior legal strategy attorney:

“While Dr. Reid asserted that these policies reflect the current state of the law, what she failed to disclose is critically important: the law remains unsettled and may well be overturned by the Supreme Court before the school year ends. By persisting in these policies, Dr. Reid needlessly risks access to critical federal funding while exposing Fairfax students to unlawful discrimination.

Dr. Reid’s letter, which purports to assure parents that FCPS policies are legally sound, conceals more than it reveals. The Supreme Court will soon decide these issues—and AFPI will be there to ensure that parents, students, and the rule of law prevail.”

BACKGROUND

In her letter to parents, Dr. Reid claims that “FCPS policies and regulations will stay aligned with Virginia law and the rulings of the federal Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit,” citing Grimm v. Gloucester County, which incorrectly held that a school board’s policy requiring students to use bathrooms based on biological sex unlawfully discriminated against transgender students in violation of Title IX. But Dr. Reid’s reliance on Grimm to suggest that FCPS policies are legally secure is misleading. What she did not disclose in her message to parents, but the school board acknowledged in its communications with the Department of Education, is that the Supreme Court will soon hear and decide another Fourth Circuit case, West Virginia State Board of Education v. B.P.J. by Jackson, which, by Dr. Reid’s own admission, raises “the precise legal issue at stake” about the legal basis for biological males identifying as females to infringe on the rights, privacy, and opportunities of girls.

It is worth noting that other federal courts have ruled differently on the law than Grimm, creating a split in authorities as the issue heads to the Supreme Court. The Eleventh Circuit, for example, rejected the claim that Title IX extends to “gender identity.” See Adams by and through Kasper v. Sch. Bd. of St. Johns Cnty., 57 F.4th 791 (11th Cir. 2022). And while the Supreme Court recently dodged deciding whether Title IX extends to transgender persons in its landmark ruling, United States v. Skrmetti (which upheld Tennessee’s ban on transgender surgeries for minors), Justices Barrett and Alito signaled they would likely find that “transgender persons do not qualify as a suspect or quasi-suspect class”—which would confirm that the law protects the rights and opportunities of girls from unlawful gender ideology policies. In light of this trend in the Supreme Court’s reasoning, Dr. Reid ought to know her assurances about the legality of FCPS’s transgender policies are unfounded, and her decision to maintain these unlawful policies leaves Fairfax County families bearing both the financial and constitutional costs of noncompliance with Title IX.

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND – AFPI’S WORK TO DEFEND FAMILIES

AFPI is committed to fighting for our nation’s families. In the Ninth Circuit, AFPI’s Center for Litigation has filed suit against Oregon officials to defend young female athletes from similarly unlawful policies forcing them to compete against biological males. AFPI has also submitted a petition for certiorari to the United States Supreme Court after a Colorado school concealed an after-school program that promoted transgender ideology while deliberately hiding it from parents.

Across the country, parents have a right to know the truth about what their children are being subjected to in public schools.