On Aug. 29, the Arlington County School Board (ASB) filed a complaint against the Department of Education (DOE). This action was prompted by the withholding of federal education funding from Arlington Public Schools (APS) on the premise that they were violating Title IX. This federal law prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded schools. The government argued that allowing students to use bathrooms based on their gender identity rather than their biological sex was illegal.

On Aug. 19, the DOE placed five school districts in northern Virginia under “high-risk status” for their alleged violation of Title IX. Apart from APS, these school systems were Alexandria City Public Schools, Prince William County Public Schools, Loudoun County Public Schools, and Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS).

According to the U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, allowing transgender students to use the bathroom of their choosing not only violates Title IX but also threatens the safety of female students. The DOE expressed that violations of Title IX would not go without consequences and that these schools would not receive funding as usual.

In McMahon’s words, the Northern Virginia school districts were “choosing to abide by woke gender ideology in place of federal law.”

According to an article by ABC News, the federal funds of these “high-risk status” schools are now under reimbursement status, effectively preventing the schools from using millions of dollars in federal funding. Following McMahon’s statement, the Fairfax County School Board (FCSB) decided to take legal action against the DOE, arguing that they were protecting the well-being of their students, and, in fact, upholding Title IX, by allowing transgender students to use the bathrooms of their choosing.

The concerns of the ASB and the FCSB were similar, leading them to file a joint complaint in federal court in Alexandria, requesting a preliminary injunction to prevent the DOE from freezing funding until the court decides on whether the districts had violated Title IX.

In the complaint, the school boards made it very clear that they believed that the DOE had a false basis, and could not legally take away school funding.

“The Department sought to justify this decision by a bare, and incorrect, assertion that APS (and four other Northern Virginia school districts) have been ‘in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.’ Defendants assert that APS violates Title IX by maintaining a policy that permits students to access restrooms and locker rooms (‘facilities’) that align with their gender identity.”

In addition, the complaint pointed towards Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board, an earlier case that ruled that preventing transgender students from using the facilities of their choosing violated Title IX, not the other way around. Grimm serves as a precedent for Arlington School Board v. McMahon.

In response to the complaint, the DOE argued that the federal court in Alexandria lacked jurisdiction over the case, but if they did decide to proceed, that ASB was clearly in violation of Title IX.

“Those jurisdictional bars are game, set, match for this case, and the Court need not look
further. But if it does, there is more reason to deny relief. First, Plaintiff’s claims fail on the merits because (1) the Defendants’ actions were reasonably explained, (2) to the extent Grimm remains good law, this case can be distinguished, and (3) the spending clause claim fails on its face. And just as importantly, Plaintiff cannot establish irreparable harm. Plaintiff’s own evidence indicates that it will be reimbursed with funds and simply must pay up front in the meantime.”

Ultimately, the federal district court acknowledged that Grimm v. Gloucester County “remains the law of this Circuit,” but then explained that it did not have jurisdiction over the case and “‘may not rule on the merits’ of the questions raised by Plaintiffs.”

Recently, Arlington County appealed its case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, leaving Arlington School Board v. McMahon, very much undecided.

PDF documents of Arlington School Board’s Complaint, the Government’s Memo in Opposition, and the Court’s Ruling can be found below in that order:

file:///Users/1012689/Downloads/001%20%20Complaint%20of%20Arlington%20County%20School%20Bd%20v.%20McMahon%20(1).pdf

file:///Users/1012689/Downloads/019%20-%20Government%20memo%20in%20opposition%20(1).pdf

file:///Users/1012689/Downloads/027%20-%20Order%20denying%20Pr%20Inj,%20Dismissing%20Case%20(1).pdf