On August 15, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid notified parents that the district would continue to enforce its transgender student policies. This decision comes despite guidance from the U.S. Department of Education stating that these policies may violate Title IX and could put $160 million in federal education funding at risk.
Leigh Ann O’Neill, chief of staff for the Center for Litigation and senior legal strategy attorney at America First Policy Institute (AFPI), responded to Dr. Reid’s announcement with a statement:
“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.”
In her communication with parents, Dr. Reid said FCPS would align its regulations with Virginia law and rulings from the federal Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, referencing Grimm v. Gloucester County. That case found that requiring students to use bathrooms based on biological sex was discriminatory under Title IX when applied to transgender students.
However, AFPI contends that relying on Grimm does not guarantee legal certainty for FCPS’s approach because other courts have ruled differently on whether Title IX applies to gender identity claims. For example, the Eleventh Circuit decided in Adams by and through Kasper v. Sch. Bd. of St. Johns Cnty., 57 F.4th 791 (11th Cir. 2022), that Title IX does not extend protections based on gender identity.
The Supreme Court is expected to address this issue soon in West Virginia State Board of Education v. B.P.J. by Jackson—a case involving similar questions about rights related to gender identity in schools.
Additionally, recent Supreme Court actions such as United States v. Skrmetti upheld Tennessee’s ban on transgender surgeries for minors but did not resolve whether Title IX covers transgender persons as a protected class.
AFPI has also been active in litigation related to these topics across other states, including filing suit against Oregon officials over athletic competition rules and submitting a petition for certiorari after a Colorado school concealed an after-school program promoting transgender ideology from parents.
According to AFPI, “Across the country, parents have a right to know the truth about what their children are being subjected to in public schools.”
