Arlington County Public Schools (APS) and Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) recently came under fire from the Department of Education (DOE) regarding their restroom policies. This prompted APS and FCPS to file a lawsuit on August 29, 2025. The lawsuit is in response to the DOE threatening to suspend federal funding for the district attempting to force policy changes regarding student inclusivity. Specifically, the DOE is going after gender identity policies that allow for separate gender neutral restrooms for students.
These districts were put on “high-risk” status by the DOE. This means the DOE froze these districts’ school lunch and special education federal funds. DOE claimed these districts have violated Title IX, a US law that prevents sex-based discrimination in any educational program, by having gender neutral restrooms. The DOE claims gender neutral bathrooms are a form of sex-based discrimination. However, APS, FCPS, Alexandria City, Loudon County and Prince William County districts are refusing to follow DOE’s demands to remove them, and continuing with their current restroom systems in place. These districts’ refusal to comply led the DOE to arrange the “high-risk” status.
The high-risk status given to these counties blocks them from receiving any federal funding. This is particularly detrimental to Title I schools, schools with more than 50 percent of students under the poverty line, as they cannot provide the resources their students need.
FCPS stated these funds were used for school lunches and cafeteria staffing. They are also used for disabled student care and low-income family support. In a press release from September 16, 2025, FCPS superintendent Michelle C. Reid made a statement regarding where FCPS stands on the matter.
“The DOE’s demands would force FCPS to either break [Title IX] and discriminate against our students or face the loss of up to $167 million in federal funding,” Reid said.
The basis for the school system’s lawsuit stems from an old decision in a Virginia Circuit Court that offers a precedent for interpreting Title IX.
“[The DOE’s argument] relies upon an incorrect interpretation of Title IX that is flatly inconsistent with binding precedent in the Fourth Circuit,” FCPS said in a quote from Education Weekly.
The Fourth Circuit case being referenced is the 2020 Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board case. Gavin Grimm sued his School Board for the violation of Title IX and Equal Protection Clause because he was a transgender student prohibited from using the men’s restroom. He won this case, proving this School Board went against State and Federal law. This case set the basis for gender neutral bathroom policies in other counties like APS.
“The case affirmed the students right to use the bathroom based on their gender identity. So that’s the current case law that supports APS policy,” our school’s principal Dr. Kevin Clark said.
APS is using Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board as the basis of their argument as the Virginia District Court’s decision was backed by the Supreme Court in 2021. The Supreme Court ruled that Grimm’s victory should stand, and cannot be further appealed.
“This lawsuit is an important step in our effort to protect the health and safety of all our students in alignment with state and federal law—to ensure that hungry students are fed and that student access to multilingual, special education and other essential services is not compromised,” Reid said in an Education Weekly letter.
Our nation is built on ideas of federalism, where each state has their own state government. Federalism allows the states to better accommodate the needs of their citizens, including allowing states to handle educational policy. In this system, the national government is not supposed to interfere with local policies.
“The Federal government is not supposed to be individually punitive,” history teacher Paige Hamrick said.
What the DOE is doing is likely an overreach of power, yet it may be several years until the government chooses to make a decision.
