A federal judge on Friday decided not to rule in the case of two Northern Virginia school systems suing to prevent the Department of Education from freezing federal funding because the districts haven鈥檛 changed their policies for intimate spaces.
In a 13-page filing, Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia said that because Fairfax and Arlington Public Schools鈥� complaints are about requests 鈥渢o order the payment of money,鈥� the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction.
The filing stated that jurisdiction lies with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
The decision comes days after the divisions first filed the lawsuit, hoping to stop the department from freezing federal funds. The two districts, as well as Loudoun, Prince William and the City of Alexandria school systems, have been scrutinized by the agency because of their bathroom policies.
The Education Department has said policies that let students use bathrooms based on gender identity violate Title IX, and that schools should adopt policies that allow kids to use bathrooms based on biological sex.
鈥淲e are considering our next steps in the courts as we strongly believe the Department of Education鈥檚 classification of FCPS as a 鈥榟igh-risk鈥� entity effectively holds the division hostage and violates binding precedent from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals,鈥� Fairfax County Public Schools said in a statement. 鈥淭his designation unfairly harms tens of thousands of our most vulnerable students who depend on these federal dollars.鈥�
小萝莉影视 has contacted Arlington Public Schools and the Department of Education for comment.
Last month, the Education Department announced it had placed five Northern Virginia districts on 鈥渉igh risk鈥� status and would scrutinize their federal reimbursement requests, because they didn鈥檛 change their policies. While Fairfax and Prince William counties have said they don鈥檛 get federal funding through Title IX, they do receive federal dollars as a small fraction of their budgets.
鈥淭hese critical federal dollars are used to support food and nutrition services, as well as the staffing of cafeterias,鈥� the Fairfax County schools鈥� statement said. 鈥淥ther funding is used for services and instruction for students with disabilities and students from low-income families, to increase student achievement, support technical education, promote teacher development, and fund community education programs.鈥�
Arlington, meanwhile, previously said the Education Department鈥檚 move resulted in freezing $23 million in funding. In a post on the division鈥檚 website announcing the lawsuit, Superintendent Francisco Dur谩n said that money pays for free breakfast and lunch for thousands of low-income students and support for special education students.
The Education Department gave the five Northern Virginia school systems a deadline to comply with the request to change their policies. All of them told the agency they believe their current practices are in compliance with the law.
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