Virginia school district votes to keep gender bathroom policy, defying Department of Education directive

A Northern Virginia school district voted to keep its transgender bathroom policy in defiance of a U.S. Department of Education directive to rescind the policy or risk punishment.

At a closed-session meeting on Tuesday, the Loudoun County school board voted 6-3 to keep its gender identity policy, which allows students to use the locker rooms and restrooms that correspond with their gender identity. 

The district was one of five Northern Virginia school districts urged in July to drop its transgender bathroom policy, after an investigation by the Education Department's Office of Civil Rights (OCR) found the schools to be in violation of Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in education. 

The OCR issued a proposed resolution agreement to resolve the Title IX violations. The districts were asked to rescind these policies voluntarily or "risk imminent enforcement action, including referral to the U.S. Department of Justice." 

U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon warned in an interview with WJLA that schools could lose federal funding if they did not comply with the changes.

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Loudoun County was the first district to formally respond, according to WUSA9, saying it was open to discussing the matter but wouldn't agree to the Trump administration's terms "at this time."

A Loudoun County Public Schools' spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the district remained committed to ensuring every student feels "safe, supported, and able to thrive" while it complies with applicable law. 

The board claimed its policy was in line with legal precedent from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit protecting transgender students.

The district said that the Education Department's determination that such policies conflict with its interpretation of Title IX creates "a direct tension between federal agency guidance and binding judicial authority."

"As a result, they asked LCPS (and four other school divisions in Northern Virginia) to sign a proposed resolution agreement. After consultation with legal counsel, the Board voted 6-3 not to comply with this request due to the tension between the OCR position and current law. We will continue to monitor developments closely to ensure continued legal compliance and the protection of all students."

"Our priority remains the same: doing what is right for Loudoun County's young people; focusing on educating our students and ensuring our schools are places where every child feels they belong," the statement concluded.

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The district's gender identity policy, called Policy 8040, has been embroiled in controversy since it was adopted in 2021. 

A Loudoun County father made national headlines that year after he accused the school board of covering up the sexual assault of his daughter by a male student wearing a skirt in the girls' bathroom.

Earlier this year, three LCPS high school students were investigated after they complained about sharing a locker room with a biological female student, who identified as male. The school's handling of the incident spurred a probe by Virginia's Republican Attorney General Jason Mirayes into the district's gender policies and launched a Title IX investigation by the Justice Department.

The Biden administration finalized Title IX regulations in 2024 to expand protections for LGBTQ+ students, interpreting the law's prohibition on sex discrimination to include gender identity and sexual orientation. 

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Shortly after taking office, Trump's Department of Education notified K-12 schools that it would be reversing Biden's re-write of Title IX and enforcing these protections on the basis of biological sex in schools and on campuses.

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The Department of Education did not immediately return a request for comment.