The U.S. Department of Education building in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Justin Kozemchak/Shutterstock
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 18, 2025 / 17:15 pm (CNA).
President Donald Trump’s Department of Education has launched an investigation into five school districts in northern Virginia to determine whether their transgender policies violate recent executive orders.
Since taking office, Trump has signed several orders to combat gender ideology, which includes a Jan. 29 executive order that prohibits K–12 schools from supporting a “social transition” of a child’s gender. Schools that violate the rules could lose access to federal funds through Title IX enforcement.
According to the executive order, a “social transition” includes modifying a child’s name or using pronouns inconsistent with the child’s biological sex. It also prohibits K–12 schools from allowing children to use bathrooms or locker rooms inconsistent with his or her sex or allowing a student to participate in an athletic competition specifically designated for the opposite sex.
Policies in potential violation
Before the executive order, many schools throughout the country supported or facilitated social transitions for students who identify as transgender. The inquiry into the five northern Virginia school divisions marks the first formal investigation into whether schools are complying with the new federal standards.
The Department of Education’s investigation is looking into policies at Alexandria City Public Schools, Arlington Public Schools, Fairfax County Public Schools, Loudoun County Public Schools, and Prince William County Public Schools. All five school divisions are in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.
For example, Prince William County Public Schools regulation 738-5 requires staff to refer to students with pronouns that “reflect their gender identity” when it is inconsistent with the child’s biological sex and permits access to locker rooms and restrooms that “correspond to their gender identity” regardless of biological sex.
A spokesperson for Prince William County Public Schools told CNA that the Department of Education has notified the school division of the investigation and that the school division will “cooperate with the investigation,” adding that it “remains committed to providing a welcoming, nurturing learning environment where all of our students feel safe and supported mentally, physically, and emotionally.”
Fairfax County Public Schools’ Regulation 2603.2 includes similar language, stating that a child “should be called by their chosen name and pronouns.” It adds that students can access locker rooms and restrooms “consistent with the student’s gender identity” even if that identity does not match his or her biological sex.
A spokesperson for Fairfax County Public Schools told CNA its policies “align with state and federal anti-discrimination laws and binding court precedent,” adding that “all students have a right to privacy in [school] facilities or while participating in [school]-sponsored events … regardless of the underlying reason.”
In Loudoun County Public Schools, Policy 8040 states that staff must use a child’s “chosen name and gender pronouns” and allows students to use the facilities that correspond to “their consistently asserted gender identity.”
A spokesperson told CNA that the school division “is aware of the investigation and will respond in accordance with the law.”
The policies in Alexandria City Public Schools and Arlington Public Schools have similar rules that require staff to use pronouns in line with a student’s self-asserted gender identity and allow access to locker rooms and bathrooms based on a child’s “gender identity” even if inconsistent with his or her biological sex.
A spokesperson for Alexandria City Public Schools told CNA that the Department of Education has advised the school division of the investigation and will be in contact with the school division “to arrange for the next steps in the investigation with requests for data and access to personnel.” The spokesperson added that Alexandria City Public Schools “will respond to this investigation in accordance with applicable law.”
CNA could not reach Arlington Public Schools by the time of publication.
The Education Department’s investigation
The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights launched its investigation into the five school divisions after it received a complaint from America First Legal — a conservative nonprofit founded by Stephen Miller, who now serves as Trump’s White House deputy chief of staff for policy.
“We are grateful that President Trump and the Department of Education are so committed to taking action and investigating these radical and lawless school districts that would rather deny biology than teach it,” America First Legal Senior Adviser Ian Prior said in a statement.
“Each of these school districts has spent years bowing to the altar of transgender ideology while ignoring the law, common sense, and the concerns of its students and their parents,” he said.
“A male student in these school districts can wake up, claim to be ‘gender expansive or transgender,’ and then have a pass to use female locker rooms and restrooms,” Prior added. “If the female students are uncomfortable sharing those locker rooms and restrooms with that male student, it is the female students who must make alternative arrangements. That is sex discrimination.”
Dan Greenspahn, a team leader in the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, sent a letter to America First Legal to notify the organization that the department is investigating the complaint. The letter emphasizes that opening an investigation does not mean that the office has made any decision about the merits of the complaint but adds that schools must comply with federal rules.
“As recipients of federal financial assistance from the Department of Education, the [school] divisions must comply with this law,” the letter states.
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