But , brought by the 18-year-old in late October with the Education Department鈥檚 Office for Civil Rights, may never get investigated.聽

That鈥檚 because it鈥檚 one of thousands of federal civil rights complaints and investigations against school districts nationally 鈥� particularly those alleging sexual misconduct or racism 鈥� that advocates say have been left to languish by the Trump administration with little hope for resolution. As the president and Secretary Linda McMahon seek to dismantle the Education Department 鈥� with its civil rights office among the hardest hit by layoffs 鈥� attorneys say students like Celestine have lost one of their few avenues for relief. 

鈥淲hen we filed the complaint on Oct. 29, we knew the election was a few days out and we knew this could very well be the outcome,鈥� said Andrew Hairston, the director of the Education Justice Project at the nonprofit Texas Appleseed, who is representing Celestine in her complaint against the Beaumont Independent School District and its police department. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very difficult for Black children, in particular, who face the harms of school police, to seek any vindication of their rights.鈥� 

Since President Donald Trump took office in January, civil rights attorneys at the Education Department have faced a whirlwind of directives and layoffs, throwing into uncertainty more than 12,000 civil rights investigations that stemmed from complaints by students, parents and their advocates. The Education Department and the Beaumont school district didn鈥檛 respond to requests for comment. 

After investigations nationwide were paused following Trump鈥檚 Jan. 20 inauguration, the Education Department鈥檚 staff was cut roughly in half through layoffs of more than 1,300 employees, buyouts and early retirements. When the department announced mass firings earlier this month, at least 243 civil rights office staffers were cut. Meanwhile, seven of the 12 Office for Civil Rights regional offices were shuttered, including those in Philadelphia and Dallas, Texas, where Celestine鈥檚 complaint was filed. 

It鈥檚 a situation that civil rights advocates say has left the Education Department unequipped to carry out its functions mandated by Congress. In filed March 14, advocates and families accused the Trump administration of eviscerating students鈥� access to federal civil rights remedies, with particular harm to students of color, female students and LGBTQ+ youth. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has prioritized cases tied to antisemitism complaints and has that afford rights and protections to transgender students. 

The lawsuit alleges the changes undermine the civil rights office鈥檚 ability to process and investigate complaints and asked a judge to order that its staffing be restored to levels that allow complaints from the public to be investigated 鈥減romptly and equitably.鈥� Staffing changes were 鈥渁rbitrary and capricious鈥� the lawsuit charges, because Trump administration officials 鈥渄id not articulate a reasoned basis for their decision to sabotage鈥� the Office for Civil Rights. 

鈥淭he fact that the federal government is kind of both eliminating these offices and then weaponizing what’s left of them to advance a very narrow definition of discrimination is not just troubling and sad, it鈥檚 also fundamentally antithetical to what democratic governance and law enforcement should look like,鈥� said Johnathan Smith, the chief of staff and general counsel at the nonprofit National Center for Youth Law.

Smith represents the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the Education Department and McMahon. They include Nikki Carter, a Black mother of three, who alleges she was barred from her children鈥檚 Alabama schools in retaliation for her work as an advocate for children with disabilities. A second parent, identified only as A.W., charges they had to remove their child from school for safety reasons after the student was sexually assaulted and harassed by a classmate and the school did not adequately respond. Both parents are members of the , a nonprofit focused on the civil rights of children with disabilities.

Carter’s complaint was filed in September 2022 and A.W.’s in October 2023.

鈥楥ommunicating into a black hole鈥�

It was spring 2024 when Celestine got into a fight and campus police in Beaumont were called to the scene. 

Though the civil rights complaint submitted to the Education Department by the nonprofit Texas Appleseed doesn鈥檛 seek to absolve Celestine for her role in the fight, it takes aim at what happened next: A police use-of-force incident captured on video.

鈥淩esponding after the fight occurred鈥� when the teenager was sitting passively on the floor, the complaint states, the officer with the school district police department pepper-sprayed Celestine, grabbed her by the hair and kneed her in the face. 

鈥淪uch excessive force caused great harm鈥� and was just the first form of punishment Celestine received for the fight, the complaint alleges. She was also suspended from school, placed in an alternative education program and required to complete community service 鈥� 鈥漜onsequences that exceeded the nature of the incident in question,鈥� it argues. 

鈥淭his complaint does not ignore the significance of an offense such as in-school fighting,鈥� Texas Appleseed鈥檚 Hairston wrote to federal investigators. But the altercation that Celestine was involved in 鈥渄id not warrant the abuse she was subjected to.鈥� 

The issue at Beaumont is bigger than Celestine and a campus fight, Texas Appleseed contends. It 鈥渞epresents a salient example of how the school-to-prison pipeline operates,鈥� according to the complaint, and highlights how Black students at the district and nationally are disproportionately subjected to law enforcement referrals in schools. 

The 12,000 civil rights investigations that were pending as of Jan. 14 ahead of Trump鈥檚 inauguration were listed in that hasn鈥檛 been updated since. Federal civil rights investigations聽routinely take years to resolve and the oldest pending complaint at the time, alleging sex-based discrimination in athletics against an Oklahoma school district was opened in 2007.

After Trump鈥檚 swearing-in, the Education Department paused all investigations in its civil rights office. In February, the agency ended the pause on investigations focused solely on disability-based discrimination, and then lifted the hold on sex- and race-based complaints on March 6 鈥� just a week before the 243 OCR staffers were fired. At least 178 attorneys in the civil rights division and dozens of equal opportunity specialists were eliminated. 

The Dallas regional office was among those shut down altogether, possibly relegating Celestine鈥檚 case and thousands more to oblivion. Smith with the National Center for Youth Law said he鈥檚 heard from fired Education Department employees who鈥檝e lost access to their email accounts and all ability to communicate with families and attorneys about pending complaints. 

鈥淯nless someone is actually going to go into their email accounts and pull up those emails, those communications are lost,鈥� Smith said. As a result, parents and school officials who are communicating with Education Department officials about pending cases are 鈥渓iterally communicating into a black hole because there鈥檚 no way for that information to go anywhere.鈥� 

Even if pending cases are transferred to other regional offices, Smith said, they should be considered dead on arrival. 

鈥淚 just don鈥檛 see how anyone can believe that there鈥檚 going to be any real process or consideration of those complaints at this point,鈥� Smith said. 

鈥楻einterpreting what is racial discrimination鈥�

While certain cases appear to be jettisoned, fired Education Department staffers who spoke to 蜜桃影视 and others allege the department鈥檚 civil rights division has been weaponized to pursue politically motivated investigations. 

Among them is for opening a gender-neutral bathroom at one of its high schools. Last week, the Office for Civil Rights found the state of Maine violated Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination, for allowing transgender student athletes to participate on girls鈥� sports teams. 

As the Trump administration targets diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at schools and colleges, the Education Department against the Ithaca, New York, school district, charging a Students of Color United Summit designed to 鈥減rovide a safe space鈥� and 鈥渦plift students of color鈥� was discriminatory against white students. 

Harold Jordan, the nationwide education equity coordinator at the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, accused the Trump administration of launching 鈥渄irected investigations鈥� to advance political agendas 鈥渂ased on something they read in the newspaper鈥� rather than from complaints filed by students attending those schools. 

鈥淭his department is clearly fixated on race and reinterpreting what is racial discrimination,鈥� Jordan said. Ideological beliefs around racial discrimination and transgender students鈥� rights, he said 鈥渟eem to have spilled over into how they see civil rights enforcement.鈥� 

Jordan said the ACLU represents students in about 20 pending federal civil rights complaints nationally, yet 鈥渘obody is hearing anything鈥� from the civil rights office about the status of those investigations. Among the complaints is an allegation by seven students that Pennsylvania鈥檚 Central Bucks School District against LGBTQ+ students, particularly those who are transgender and nonbinary. 

鈥淕iven their diatribes about gender ideology and stuff, I suspect that they鈥檙e not going to be terribly sympathetic,鈥� Jordan said. 鈥淏ut we ultimately don鈥檛 know, and ultimately they鈥檙e supposed to follow the law and enforce the law.鈥� 

Meanwhile, at least one civil rights complainant bowed out before the Trump administration could even weigh in, said Katie McKay, an attorney at the Brooklyn law firm C.A. Goldberg where she works on cases involving sexual discrimination, harassment and assault at K-12 schools and colleges. McKay said a college student whose sexual assault case 鈥渉ad been open since Obama was in office,鈥� decided to voluntarily close the complaint after Trump was elected for a second term 鈥渂ecause of concerns that this administration would mishandle the case.鈥� 

鈥淚t鈥檚 frustrating and sad to see that this person has been sitting with this unresolved issue for like a decade and then it’s kind of this non-resolution,鈥� McKay said. The decision to terminate the complaint was made in part on against the president himself. In 2023, a for sexual abuse against the writer E. Jean Carroll in 1996.聽

鈥淭here鈥檚 this fear that those values were going to be applied to the case,鈥� McKay said. 鈥淐losing out the case at least created a sense of closure on their own terms rather than letting this administration speak for them.鈥� 

From gun-toting math teachers to federal rules that decide which bathroom a kid can use, the student safety and civil rights issues that are central to the School (in)Security newsletter could be in for some major changes. 

Here are 11:

• The return of an architect of the family separation immigration policy during the first Trump administration. | 
  
• An effort to end the constitutional right of citizenship for children born in the U.S. regardless of their parents鈥� immigration or citizenship status. | 
  
• A rollback of civil rights and anti-discrimination protections for transgender students. | 
  
• A shakeup at the federal government鈥檚 primary cybersecurity agency, which has taken a leading role in school cyberattack prevention. | 
  
• Efforts to unwind bipartisan firearm restrictions approved in 2022 following the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. | 
  
• Policies that address school violence through a renewed focus on suspensions and 鈥渉ardening schools鈥� with measures like campus-based police and metal detectors. |  
  
• Efforts to strengthen protections for students accused of sexual misconduct. | 
  
• A promise to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education 鈥� and the potential return of policies enacted during the first Trump administration that scaled back investigations into discrimination based on students鈥� race, sex or religion. | 
  
• A vice president who said school shootings 鈥� which have surged exponentially in the last decade 鈥� are a 鈥渇act of life鈥� and that schools are 鈥渟oft targets鈥� if you are a 鈥減sycho and you want to make headlines.鈥� | 
  
• Efforts to reform anti-discrimination rules to remove 鈥渄isparate impact鈥� liability, including for racial disparities in school discipline. | 
  
• Efforts to eliminate federal funds for schools that recognize students鈥� transgender identities and grant equal access to bathrooms and locker rooms. | 

In the news

To school shooting survivor David Hogg, Democrats鈥� failure to motivate voters rests on the shoulders of one constituency above all: Boomers. I recently profiled , a well-financed political action committee designed to elevate Gen Z and millennial progressives. Here鈥檚 how they fared on Nov. 5. | 

Notorious swatter confesses: An 18-year-old from California has pleaded guilty to making 375 swatting calls throughout the U.S., including false police reports of school shootings and bombings. | 

Federal authorities indicted two suspected cybercriminals accused of breaking into a cloud computing platform and exposing the data of major corporations and the Los Angeles school district. | 

A federal judge has temporarily halted a new Louisiana law that would require public schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms. | 

A drop in the bucket: The Federal Communications Commission said demand for a $200 million school cybersecurity pilot program far exceeded its capacity, with 2,734 applications requesting a total of $3.7 billion. | 

The Providence, Rhode Island, school district acknowledged in a letter to families that a recent cyberattack compromised sensitive student information 鈥� but only after I published  into the extent of the breach. | 

鈥楢 culture of bullying:鈥� Federal authorities have opened a civil rights investigation into a New Jersey school district where school resource officers are accused of failing to protect an 11-year-old student from harassment before she died by suicide last year. | 

The 28-year-old athletics director of a New York school district has been arrested in an extortion case, accused of demanding that a 17-year-old student send him sexual photos over Snapchat under a threat of exposing personal information about the minor. 

ICYMI @The74

Emotional Support

George, the four-legged companion of education consultant David Irwin, found the perfect lobster costume for Halloween a decade ago and hasn鈥檛 looked back.

Six West Virginia schools were notified Thursday that policies in their student handbooks may violate students鈥� First Amendment rights by requiring them to participate in certain activities like standing for flag-raising ceremonies and the Pledge of Allegiance and removing hats for the national anthem, among other things.

The notice 鈥� which was sent as to the schools 鈥� came from the West Virginia arm of the American Civil Liberties Union on the 81st anniversary of the landmark legal case West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette. In 1949, The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in that case that students cannot be forced or compelled to salute a flag or recite the Pledge in schools. Policies that direct otherwise, according to the case, are a clear violation of the students鈥� freedom of speech.

鈥淭he Constitution affords protection for Americans to freely express our beliefs and ideas. That protection expands beyond written and spoken word; it extends to symbolic speech as well,鈥� ACLU-WV Legal Director Aubrey Sparks wrote in the letter. 鈥淥ne powerful way that people can express themselves is by choosing to remain silent when everyone else is agreeing, or remaining sitting when everyone else stands. Barnette codified that right. Students still have that right in schools today.鈥�

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Staff from the ACLU, according to a , reviewed student handbooks for all schools in the state to ensure their policies were compliant with the rulings in Barnette.

Schools that received the letters due to having policies in violation of the law are: Calhoun Middle/High School, Riverside High School in Kanawha County, Summers County Comprehensive High School, Richwood High School in Nicholas County, Sissonville Middle School in Kanawha County and John Adams Middle School, also in Kanawha County.

The policies in the student handbook vary school by school.

Riverside High, for example, that students must rise and remove hats during the national anthem and flag ceremonies held during extracurricular activities.

At and middle schools, the handbooks state that students must stand for the Pledge of Allegiance during class. If they don鈥檛 recite the Pledge, they must remain silent.

The letters sent Thursday urge leaders at the listed schools to review their policies with consideration of the Barnette ruling and amend them if needed to 鈥渆nsure that they meet constitutional obligations.鈥�

鈥淪chools are often the first places that students learn about their civic obligations, their constitutional rights, and the importance of being brave enough to engage in speech that鈥檚 not always popular,鈥� Sparks wrote in the letter. 鈥淭he First Amendment exists to safeguard the diversity of thought and expression, which are essential components of a thriving democratic society. Protecting free speech in public schools is paramount, something that was determined by the Supreme Court in West Virginia v. Barnette eighty-one years ago.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com. Follow West Virginia Watch on and .

A Texas federal judge blocked the Biden administration’s efforts to extend federal anti-discrimination protections to LGBTQ+ students.

In his ruling Tuesday, Judge Reed O’Connor said the Biden administration lacked the authority to make the changes and accused it of pushing 鈥渁n agenda wholly divorced from the text, structure, and contemporary context of Title IX.鈥� Title IX is the 1972 law that prohibits discrimination based on sex in educational settings.

鈥淭o allow [the Biden administration鈥檚] unlawful action to stand would be to functionally rewrite Title IX in a way that shockingly transforms American education and usurps a major question from Congress,鈥� wrote O鈥機onnor, a President George W. Bush appointee. 鈥淭hat is not how our democratic system functions.鈥�

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The Biden administration鈥檚 new guidelines, issued in April, expanded Title IX to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The changes would make schools and universities responsible for investigating a wider range of discrimination complaints. The rule changes came as several states, including Texas, have approved laws in recent years barring transgender student-athletes from participating in sports teams that correspond to their gender identity. The Biden administration hasn鈥檛 clarified whether the new guidance would apply in those cases.

Texas and several other states have the Biden administration over the new rule. . A month after the guidelines were released, Gov. called on school districts and universities .

鈥淭hreatening to withhold education funding by forcing states to accept 鈥榯ransgender鈥� policies that put women in danger was plainly illegal,鈥� said Texas Attorney General in a statement applauding Tuesday鈥檚 ruling. 鈥淭exas has prevailed on behalf of the entire Nation.鈥�

An U.S. Education Department said in a statement it stands by its revised guidelines.

鈥淓very student deserves the right to feel safe in school,” the statement reads.

This article originally appeared in at . The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at .

Gov. Tony Evers signed education-related legislation Friday, including a measure to tighten protections for students against strip searches and sexual misconduct.

One measure, Senate Bill 111, , was introduced in reaction to a 2022 incident in which a Suring School District employee, who was searching for vaping devices, allegedly ordered six teenage girls to undress down to their underwear. Neither the students鈥� parents or law enforcement were informed about or present at the time of the strip search.

The law redefines the meaning of 鈥渟trip search鈥� and 鈥減rivate area鈥� to include undergarments in order to protect students from any official, employee or agent of any school or school district conducting strip searches.

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Rep. David Steffen (R-Green Bay), who coauthored the legislation, said in a statement that 鈥渂eing treated with dignity and basic privacy is something that every student should expect when they enter our schools.

鈥淭he event at Suring revealed a statutory loophole that needed to be closed,鈥� Steffen said. 鈥淭his bill will protect our students from experiencing such intrusive searches in the future.鈥�

Another measure, Senate Bill 333, , seeks to better protect students by making sexual misconduct against a student by any school staff member or volunteer a Class I felony. It also adds more violations to the offenses where the state superintendent would be required to revoke a license聽 without a hearing, and prohibits a licensee from ever having their license reinstated by the state superintendent if they are convicted of a crime against a child that is a Class H felony or higher or a felony invasion of privacy or sexual misconduct by a school staff person or volunteer.

Other education-related legislation includes:

SB 447, , which allows schools and school districts to get prescriptions for glucagon 鈥� a treatment for people with known Type 1 diabetes. It also allows schools to authorize school personnel to administer the glucagon to someone at school if the student鈥檚 prescribed glucagon isn鈥檛 available and grants civil liability immunity to a school and its school personnel.聽AB 223, , which provides civil immunity for schools and school personnel for administering an opioid antagonist in a school setting.聽AB 914, , which allows schools to adopt a plan for management of students who have asthma to administer a short-acting bronchodilator, for the prescription for a short-acting bronchodilator to be issued in the name of a school and grants immunity from civil liability.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Wisconsin Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Ruth Conniff for questions: info@wisconsinexaminer.com. Follow Wisconsin Examiner on and .

They鈥檝e either rejected the Virginia Department of Education model policy outright or are adopting standards that fall short of the department鈥檚 guidelines.

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In October, VPM reported that only two divisions in central Virginia have adopted policies that are with the model. And at least six school boards, including Augusta, Bedford and Pittsylvania counties, have voted to explicitly reject the policy, according to tracking by Equality Virginia, an advocacy organization for the LGBTQ community.

鈥淚t really does have me scratching my head because these school boards need to be in compliance with state and federal law,鈥� said Equality Virginia Executive Director Vee Lamneck. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 what this guidance really helps school boards do.鈥� The document lays out detailed steps for addressing the rights of students, from maintaining privacy about their transgender status (including from their parents, in the case of nonsupportive families) to developing gender neutral dress codes and allowing them to use the restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identities.  

Beyond the fact that many districts aren鈥檛 following with the law, there also appears to be little, if any, enforcement. This summer, James Lane, the state鈥檚 superintendent of public instruction, informing divisions that they assumed 鈥渁ll legal responsibility for noncompliance.鈥� But the Department of Education doesn鈥檛 have the authority to assess penalties or otherwise pressure local boards to adopt consistent policies (the department isn鈥檛 even tracking which divisions are meeting the standards, according to spokesperson Ken Blackstone).

During a, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin both signaled that local school boards should have a large role in shaping policies on the treatment of transgender students.

鈥淚鈥檝e always felt that school boards have the pulse of the local community, they should be making their decisions,鈥� McAuliffe said . He doubled down later that month, repeating in another debate that 鈥�鈥� should have input on the issue (though the state 鈥渨ill always issue guidance,鈥� he said).

Youngkin has gone a step further, saying parents should have a voice in the 鈥渄ialogue.鈥� But , at least as written, largely takes local choice out of the equation, requiring school boards to set policies that are consistent with 鈥� or even more comprehensive than 鈥� drafted by the Virginia Department of Education. The document offers specific recommendations on a wide range of policies, from using the names and pronouns students identify with to allowing them to use the restrooms that align with their gender identities.

Jack Preis, an associate dean with the University of Richmond School of Law, said the state attorney general does have the authority to proactively enforce state law. But it doesn鈥檛 appear that Attorney General Mark Herring is taking those steps. After the legislation was unsuccessfully challenged by conservative groups, one attorney with his office said the state would not withhold funding to divisions that failed to comply with the law, by Courthouse News Service.

鈥淚 think DOE would be the best folks to talk to about how they implement and enforce their guidance and policies,鈥� spokesperson Charlotte Gomer wrote in response to questions from the Mercury. 

The attorney general, she said, 鈥渂elieves that all students in Virginia deserve a safe, welcoming learning environment where they feel supported and protected, and adopting DOE鈥檚 guidance or something similar will help with that goal.鈥� But Gomer didn鈥檛 respond to additional follow-up questions about whether there were any plans for enforcement, or whether there were any potential mechanisms to drive compliance beyond withholding state funding.

With no incentives 鈥� negative or positive 鈥� for following the law, its impact and its future remain uncertain. Neither Youngkin nor McAuliffe have addressed whether their positions on local control mean they would support its repeal. Nor did they comment on whether local school boards should be required to follow VDOE guidelines. The Youngkin campaign did not respond to a request for comment, and McAuliffe spokesperson Renzo Olivari said only that the former governor 鈥渉as been clear he will always protect students from discrimination.鈥�

The issue has become especially resonant, though, amid a heated race that鈥檚 focused more on . Public education has been a dominant emphasis for both campaigns, with Youngkin billing himself as a and McAuliffe accusing him of ginning up a 鈥渞ight-wing culture war.鈥�

Glenn Youngkin wants to bring Donald Trump’s politics of hate and divisiveness to our Commonwealth and to our classrooms. If we come together, we can stop him. Get out and vote.

鈥� Terry McAuliffe (@TerryMcAuliffe)

Amid the debates, policies regarding transgender students have become as big a flashpoint as the ongoing outrage against so-called critical race theory 鈥� a largely academic term that鈥檚 been leveraged to criticize school equity efforts and lessons that incorporate historical racism. Earlier this year, there were arrests at a Loudoun County school board meeting where opponents the district鈥檚 proposed transgender rights policy. The policy, which was ultimately passed by the board, again became politicized when the district was accused of committed against a student in the girls鈥� bathroom of a local high school (the parents of the victim have claimed the perpetrator was was gender fluid, but no discussion of the perpetrator鈥檚 gender identity surfaced in the court hearing, ).

 Other boards have made headlines for or .

鈥淚t鈥檚 probably fair to say that some hesitation or resistance does come from pushback from parents and families who don鈥檛 want to see these policies adopted,鈥� Lamneck said. But, they added, it can also stem from basic unfamiliarity with transgender people and the challenges they face.

Despite efforts by state legislators to move in the direction of more progessive school policies, Preis said there鈥檚 still hesitation from many school boards 鈥� and families 鈥� about issues like inclusive bathrooms and locker rooms. That鈥檚 despite the fact that denying students access to facilities that align with their gender identities has been interpreted as a violation of constitutional rights 鈥� largely through a court case brought by former Virginia public school student .

鈥淚 try to be honest about the fact that a lot of reasonable people are unaware and still learning about these things for the first time,鈥� Preis said. Some local administrators also say the model policy doesn鈥檛 always match up with the needs or values of their school community. Keith Perrigan, the superintendent for Bristol City Public Schools in Southwest Virginia, emphasized that his district has 鈥渂y no means鈥� adopted the state鈥檚 guidelines, instead opting for a more general that includes gender identity as a protected status.

It鈥檚 a route many local divisions have taken, according to VPM, and one that the Virginia School Boards Association says legally meets the requirements of the state鈥檚 law (JT Kessler, the association鈥檚 government relations specialist, did not respond to a request for comment). Del. Marcus Simon, D-Fairfax, who sponsored the original legislation, also said legislators were aware that the language offered few options for enforcement.

鈥淲e did know that should a school district basically give us the middle finger, there isn鈥檛 a whole lot to be done about it,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut the intensity of the backlash, and the decision to use this as a wedge issue, has been disappointing.鈥� Without specific language to address compliance, Preis said the law is likely to be fought out in the courts system through individual lawsuits against nonconforming school districts.

The problem, Lamneck said, is that it shifts the burden onto already vulnerable students and their families. And beyond the hassle of fighting their school districts, they said it impacts student safety and wellbeing. General nondiscrimination policies don鈥檛 address many of the day-to-day challenges transgender students can face, like what to do if a classmate or teacher refuses to use the name or pronouns they identify with.

鈥淚t鈥檚 important for school boards to be in compliance with state and federal law, but we鈥檙e really talking about the quality of these kids鈥� lives,鈥� Lamneck said. The failure to address enforcement could also have an impact on other recently passed legislation. 

Earlier this year, state lawmakers passed a bill to require for all licensed school employees. The legislation again tasked VDOE with drafting guidance for school districts, but individual divisions are responsible for adopting and implementing their own training policies. Given the current climate surrounding critical race theory, it could become another political flashpoint for localities.

鈥淭he question really is, 鈥楢re we going to be entering another era of mass resistance for some of these localities?鈥欌�� Simon said. 鈥淲hich is the way I look at it. And if we are, if school boards have gotten so politicized, then we鈥檒l have to look at what other tools are available other than passing laws and expecting government officials to follow them.鈥�

This article originally appeared at the part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Robert Zullo for questions: info@virginiamercury.com. Follow Virginia Mercury on and .