A federal district court has dismissed an Arlington School Board lawsuit over a threatened freeze on federal funding, saying it’s the wrong venue for the case.
A judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia threw out lawsuits by the Arlington School Board and Fairfax County School Board on Friday.
“The court denies plaintiffs’ motions and dismisses the complaints for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because, pursuant to the Tucker Act, jurisdiction appropriately lies with the Court of Federal Claims,” Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. wrote.
The judge denied motions to block the U.S. Department of Education’s decision to begin seeking to suspend or terminate $23 million in funds at APS and place the school system “on reimbursement status” for federal funding.
The complaints were dismissed “without prejudice,” meaning plaintiffs can re-file if they want.
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, named as a defendant in the case, celebrated the decision on social media. So did a senior advisor at America First Legal, the conservative public interest group whose complaint sparked the federal investigations.
APS did not respond to an ARLnow request for comment.
“We are deeply disappointed with today’s decision and are evaluating legal and practical options going forward,” the school system told the Washington Post. “The court’s decision puts at risk the health and safety of thousands of students, jeopardizing access to free meals, counseling, and academic resources.”
The Department of Education has accused school systems in Arlington, Fairfax, Alexandria, Loudoun and Prince William counties of sex-based discrimination because they allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identities.
All five school systems have announced plans to keep their current policies, in what has become a flash point in the Virginia governor’s race.
Federal funding accounts for about 3% of an $845 million budget at APS. The school system says it primarily uses the funds to give over 8,000 low-income students free breakfast and lunch and provide thousands of special needs students with counseling and educational support.
McMahon has pledged to give “additional scrutiny” to funding for Northern Virginia schools because they “must now prove they are using every single federal dollar for a legal purpose.”
APS has described this as a “freeze” on federal funds, although, according to the Washington Post, the school systems haven’t lost any money and most of their federal funding already comes through reimbursement.
