Virginia school policies on gender broke law, governor says

The Education Department warned public schools in five counties of northern Virginia for violating Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits sex-based discrimination. School divisions in Fairfax County, Loudoun County, Arlington County, Prince William County, and the City of Alexandria were all put on notice, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office said on Friday.

The school divisions broke federal law by allowing students of the opposite sex into sex-segregated sports and intimate spaces, Youngkin said. The Education Department’s investigation found that students in all five divisions avoided using school restrooms because of the schools’ policies. Female students saw male students inappropriately touching other students and also watching female students change in a female locker room, Youngkin’s office said. The governor’s statement included a list of other incidents resulting from the schools’ policies, including sexual assaults.

What did the federal government ask the school divisions to do? The Education Department said the divisions must change any policies that allow opposite-sex students into the other sex’s sports and or spaces like locker rooms. They must also adopt biology-based definitions of male and female students in practices related to Title IX, according to Youngkin’s office. The school divisions had 10 days to change their policies, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said on Friday. If they fail to comply, they could face federal prosecution, according to Youngkin’s office.

How did the school divisions respond? Fairfax County Public Schools on Friday said it received the warning and was reviewing it in detail before publishing a response. It remained committed to a safe and inclusive environment, it said. Prince William County Public Schools gave a similar response, adding that it would work with the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights to ensure Title IX compliance. 

Dig deeper: Read my earlier report on Youngkin’s investigation into one school division’s policy on private spaces.