What would students in need do if their free lunches, often the most reliable meal of the day, was taken from them? This is a very real problem facing the Fairfax County Public school system, whose funding has been threatened after not complying with the Trump administration’s assertions that allowing transgender students to use the facilities of their choice is wrong.
The Trump administration proclaimed that allowing trans students to use the facilities that align with their preferred gender violates Title IX. Title IX is a law that prevents discrimination based on gender in organizations that receive federal funding. It does not mention Trans people.
Fairfax County Public Schools filed a lawsuit against the Department of Education, which has since been dismissed. When reached for comment, the school district said:
“We are disappointed by Friday’s ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. We are considering our next steps in the courts as we strongly believe the Department of Education’s classification of FCPS as a “high-risk” entity effectively holds the division hostage and violates binding precedent from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. This designation unfairly harms tens of thousands of our most vulnerable students who depend on these federal dollars.”
Fairfax has the biggest public school system in the state, responsible for the education of 183,000 students. As a public school they receive a significant amount of federal funding, which is necessary for several programs such as free lunch. While this funding only makes up about 1.2% of their total budget, removing it would have a negative impact.
According to the school system “As of October 31, 2024 approximately 36 percent of students in FCPS qualify for free and reduced-price meals.” With the loss of funding over ¼ of the school’s student population could be losing access to free or reduced priced lunch.
Due to our school being an independent school, we generally are not affected by these threats to public school funding. However, this does not mean that these issues are unimportant. Friends, neighbors and siblings of our community could be affected. This issue is immensely important, and should not be ignored just because it does not impact the school’s funding.
Along with Fairfax County, school systems like Alexandria City are also resisting the federal orders regarding trans kids in bathrooms. The Trump administration is more focused on Fairfax though, as it is the 9th largest school system in the country, and gives them an opportunity to broadcast their intentions.
ALX now has an article covering the letter U.S. Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner sent to the Education Secretary demanding the reversal of funding cuts to several Northern Virginia school districts over transgender policies implemented in schools.
The article states “The letter represents the latest escalation in a monthslong standoff between the Trump administration and Northern Virginia schools that has put more than $300 million in federal funding at risk for more than 386,000 students across the five districts.”
A Junior at Alexandria City High School discussed the possibility of losing funding, saying that AC has already faced some budget cuts this year, and the possibility of losing further funding would impact the school heavily. When asked if students were concerned about this, they responded that many people did not know about the lawsuits, asserting that the AC school board was not widely publicizing its involvement. They also mentioned that ACPS has the lowest SOL scores in the entire state, and fixing that problem requires funding.
When asked if there were any reports of trans students making people feel unsafe, the student said that they have heard nothing, and there have been no incidents. They also noted that in the AC high school Minnie Howard campus there are several gender neutral bathrooms.
If the government’s threats come to fruition, it could spell out disaster. The ACPS junior ended with: “This also targets a lot of low-income and minority communities in schools. If ACPS doesn’t get funding, I genuinely do not know what we will do.”
