They Were Sued And Now A Squeeze Play

I take pity on school systems that are doing the right but are caught in the the webs that Trump spins!

Trump admin set to yank funds for Virginia schools over transgender policies

The Education Department is proceeding with efforts to suspend or terminate federal funding because five districts did not sign a proposed resolution by Aug. 15.

Polictico

By Bianca Quilantan and Juan Perez Jr.

08/19/2025

Five northern Virginia school districts are at risk of losing their federal funding after they rejected the terms of an agreement with the Education Department to resolve probes into their transgender students policies.

Districts representing Alexandria City, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Loudoun County and Prince William County have been placed on high-risk status, the agency said Tuesday. The Education Department will now only reimburse these school districts, forcing the schools to pay their education expenses up front.

Once again, courts mean nothing to Trump!

But the school districts’ policies align with a landmark case in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals that bolsters transgender students’ rights in the state. In 2021, the Supreme Court punted on the long-winding legal battle over transgender students’ rights to use bathrooms that match their gender identity in Gavin Grimm’s case against the Gloucester County School Board in Virginia.

The 4th Circuit sided with Grimm twice, ruling the transgender bathroom ban was unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. The Supreme Court’s decision to not hear the case meant the appeals court’s decision remained in place.

And splat right into the jaws of Trump's juggernaut! AP News writes,

Feds move to restrict funding for Virginia schools, punishing support for transgender students

By  ANGELA WOOLSEY

August 20, 2025

The Trump administration appears to be following through on its threat to withhold federal funds from public schools in Northern Virginia after they refused to roll back policies that support transgender and gender non-conforming students.

The U.S. Education Department announced Tuesday that it has placed Fairfax County Public Schools and the school systems in Arlington, Alexandria, Prince William and Loudoun on “high-risk status,” a move that it claims lets it attach specific conditions for releasing funding.

Arguing that the schools are violating federal civil rights laws by accommodating students based on their gender identity, rather than their sex assigned at birth, the department says it will require the districts to pay their expenses upfront and then request reimbursement in order to receive over $50 million in grants and other funding.

But... but... but...

As the Politico article goes on to report; 

But the school districts’ policies align with a landmark case in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals that bolsters transgender students’ rights in the state. In 2021, the Supreme Court punted on the long-winding legal battle over transgender students’ rights to use bathrooms that match their gender identity in Gavin Grimm’s case against the Gloucester County School Board in Virginia.

The 4th Circuit sided with Grimm twice, ruling the transgender bathroom ban was unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. The Supreme Court’s decision to not hear the case meant the appeals court’s decision remained in place.

Trump's squeeze play is being challenged in courts around the country, including here in Connecticut which is on of something like 15 or 16 states suing Trump's EOs on trans students!

I see the next stop is on the doorsteps of the federal courts.