In late July, the Department of Education identified five school divisions in Virginia that had violated Title IX based on their transgender policies allowing students to compete on teams that align with their gender identities and use corresponding locker room facilities as well.
Now, those same five school divisions have been placed on âhigh-risk statusâ as a result of refusing to change their transgender policies.
According to WTOP, as a part of the âhigh-risk status,â Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax County, Loudoun County and Prince William County school divisions will be required to pay for their own expenses up front and request a reimbursement refund from the DOE. This reimbursement applies to formula funding, discretionary grants and impact aid grants.
Related: DOE Investigation Finds Five Virginia School Divisions Violated Title IX
While some divisions are accustomed to the reimbursement refund process, Prince William County school board chairman Babur Lateef said $50 million could be at risk.
âNow, theyâre saying they will scrutinize all our reimbursements at a level to determine if we are compliant with federal laws, and weâre assuming that, since they donât believe weâre compliant, they are likely to withhold money to our school divisions for our Title I monies and students for disabilities,â Lateef told WTOP. âWe donât believe they are allowed to do that, but it looks like thatâs what they are going to try to do.â
For some of the school divisions, notice of the âhigh-risk statusâ came in a letter from the DOE after the deadline for the division to change any policy or internal funding structure. For divisions like Fairfax, that means existing practices are in place and the next step will be a court of appeals.
Education secretary, Linda McMahon said in a statement, âThe Northern Virginia School Divisions that are choosing to abide by woke gender ideology in place of federal law must now prove they are using every single federal dollar for a legal purpose.â
