The Fairfax County and Arlington school boards will get to fight the Trump administration in federal court in Virginia after all.
On Oct. 15, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit revived the two districts’ lawsuits against Education Secretary Linda McMahon, according to the opinion. The vote was 2-1. Judge Allison Rushing wrote it, and Chief Judge Albert Diaz joined her. Judge Julius Richardson dissented.
The decision concerns which court can hear the dispute. It does not decide whether the districts’ bathroom policies comply with Title IX.
Why the Education Department Went After Fairfax and Arlington
Both districts let trans students use bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender. In August 2025, the Education Department said that broke Title IX and put Fairfax, Arlington and three other Northern Virginia districts on “high-risk” status, FFXnow reported. That meant paying costs up front and waiting to get reimbursed.
“States and school districts cannot openly violate federal law while simultaneously receiving federal funding,” McMahon said then.
Fairfax Superintendent Michelle Reid said the district could “face the loss of up to $167 million in federal funding,” money that pays for things like school meals and cafeteria staff. She called the high-risk label “not supported by any identifiable factors or evidence.”
The districts sued. Last year, U.S. District Judge Rossie Alston Jr. tossed both cases, ruling they were really contract disputes that belonged in the Court of Federal Claims.
What the 4th Circuit Majority and Dissent Said
Rushing said no. The districts aren’t claiming a contract lets them keep their policies, she wrote. Their claims “are based on Title IX and its implementing regulations,” and they argue “the Department cannot place them on reimbursement status as a penalty for violating Title IX.”
The cases now return to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia for further proceedings.
Richardson saw it as money. “Federal grants are not free money,” he wrote. “They are contractual through and through.” He accused the majority of letting the districts “sneak into district court.”
Reid has pointed to the same court’s earlier rulings. When Alston dismissed the cases last year, she said the court had “recognized that FCPS’ current regulations are compelled by binding Fourth Circuit precedent,” FFXnow reported. The 4th Circuit ruled for trans student Gavin Grimm on bathroom access in 2020.
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