This article was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partner InsideNoVa.com. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.
Prince William School Board chair Dr. Babur Lateef told InsideNOVA he feels “reassured” after a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit from nearby school districts over transgender bathroom policies.
Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. on Sept. 5 dismissed the lawsuit filed by Fairfax and Arlington County public schools against the U.S. Department of Education, but the judge stated Fairfax and Arlington counties’ policies comply with current legal precedent on the issue of transgender students in school facilities and are not in violation of Title IX. Prince William’s rules are similar to those of Arlington and Fairfax.
The suit came after the education department placed five Northern Virginia districts – Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties and the city of Alexandria – on “high risk” status because of their transgender regulations, meaning all federal funding flowing to those districts will be done by reimbursement only and the department will scrutinize those reimbursement requests.
The department has warned it would freeze federal funding if the school divisions do not change policies that allow students to use facilities such as locker rooms and bathrooms that match their gender identity rather than biological sex. To date, though, no federal funds have been withheld or cut.
The precedent Alston referred to is Grimm v. Gloucester, a 2020 Fourth Circuit court case in which a transgender student, Gavin Grimm, sued the Gloucester County School Board for not allowing him to use the boys restroom as a transgender boy. The findings of that case held that prohibiting students from using facilities that correspond with their gender identity constitutes sex discrimination under Title IX and violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
“This court unconditionally recognizes that Grimm remains the law of this circuit, and thus binds both this court and the parties within the Fourth Circuit,” Alston wrote.
In dismissing the case, Alston found the federal district court did not have the power to weigh in on how the federal government distributes money. He wrote in his opinion the Arlington and Fairfax case was not suited for his court; it may be a matter better suited for the Court of Federal Claims, where the districts can refile.
It is unclear where the decision leaves Fairfax and Arlington as well as the other three school divisions facing scrutiny from the education department.
“The judge made it clear that the Grimm case is binding law for all school divisions in the Fourth Circuit,” Lateef told InsideNoVa, adding that he’s “reassured” by the ruling.
“He’s validated that for us, and so we believe that we are not breaking the law and, under that criteria, we don’t believe the federal government has any right to enforce any action against the school divisions,” he said.
After being placed on high-risk status, all five divisions, including Prince William, sent a letter asking the Department of Education to reconsider the enforcement action, Lateef said. Prince William County is still waiting for a response to that letter of reconsideration.
“We’re in wait mode,” Lateef said. “We’re willing to talk to the Department of Education, we’re willing to work with them.”
