Arlington schools defy Trump's transgender order despite federal funding threat from administration

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FIRST ON FOX: The supervisor of health and physical education at Arlington Public Schools (APS) in Virginia said that the school system is allowing students to engage in activities and use facilities and restrooms based on the gender they identify with, despite President Donald Trump's executive order and the Department of Education's interpretation of gender identity in K-12 schools.

Chris Willmore, supervisor of health, physical education, driver's education and athletics at APS, was heard making this statement on a hidden camera filmed by the Accuracy in Media group in October.

"Right now, Arlington is following what our interpretation of Title IX is and that is students participate in the activities of the gender to which they identify," Willmore said in the clip. "They also have access to the facilities of the gender to which they identify. However, we are in a legal situation with the federal Department of Education … over that."

"There are five school divisions in Northern Virginia who are refusing to follow the federal Department of Education's interpretation."

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The statement comes after Richard Cox, a registered Tier III sex offender, was charged with exposing himself in women's facilities on APS grounds in late 2024.

Cox, who identifies as transgender, was charged with 12 counts of sex offender being in proximity to children for loitering within 100 feet of school property, three counts of a sex offender entering school/child daycare property, four counts of indecent exposure, two counts of taking indecent liberties with children, and one count of identity theft, according to the Arlington Police Department, as reported by ABC7.

"Arlington Public Schools' current transgender student policy is consistent with state and federal law, including the Virginia Values Act, and is supported by recent court decisions affirming protections for student restroom access," APS Communications Director Frank Bellavia told Fox News Digital.

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"While the U.S. District Court dismissed APS's initial complaint on jurisdictional grounds, the judge explicitly recognized the Grimm case, which upholds student access to the bathroom matching their gender identity is protected under Title IX 'remains the law of this Circuit' and any effort APS would take to amend its policy would violate both state and federal law," Bellavia added. "We remain committed to creating policies ensuring all students can learn in an inclusive environment."

Trump's January executive order outlined the administration's official stance on the matter, and has since led to various court battles between APS and the Department of Education.

In August, APS filed lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in hopes of removing their "high-risk" designation that threatened their funding.

In September, U.S. District Court Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. dismissed the case, saying it was not under the court's jurisdiction and must be filed elsewhere.

Alston had also previously denied a request from APS that would prevent the freezing of federal funds while the case was ongoing.

"Across the country, ideologues who deny the biological reality of sex have increasingly used legal and other socially coercive means to permit men to self-identify as women and gain access to intimate single-sex spaces and activities designed for women, from women's domestic abuse shelters to women's workplace showers," Trump's January executive order reads. "This is wrong."

Fox News Digital reached out to Willmore but did not receive a response.