Tag: virginia

Dept. of Education to cut funding for Va. school districts over trans locker room policies

Alexandria City Public Schools, Prince William County Public Schools, and Arlington Public Schools joined Loudoun County Public Schools on Friday in defending their policies that allow students to access and use school bathrooms and locker rooms based on their chosen gender identity.

The U.S. Department of Education gave the four school districts and Fairfax County Public Schools until Friday to respond to the Department’s demands to comply with Title IX. Their responses are listed later in this article.

After this story was published, the Education Department told 7News it would begin suspending or completely cutting off federal financial assistance to those school districts.

“The Virginia divisions will have to defend their embrace of radical gender ideology over ensuring the safety of their students,” a portion of the department’s statement read.

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School district must face ‘deliberate indifference’ claim by gender-confused girl alleging assault

AVirginia school district that allegedly socially transitioned a “gender-nonconfirming” 14-year-old girl into a boy’s identity, hid it from her legal parents, told her to use the boys’ restroom even after boys started threatening her, and “pressured her to recant” those threat claims, will have to defend itself again in trial court.

A split panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the lawsuit by Michele Blair, who with her husband adopted their granddaughter Sage at age 2 from foster care, where she had been placed after her father’s death and mother’s inability to raise her.

But it dismissed all but her Title IX “deliberate indifference” claim against the Appomattox County School Board, Superintendent Annette Bennett and its staff and contract counselors, and a dissent accused the majority of “push[ing] past the boundaries” set by the Supreme Court in student-on-student sexual harassment cases.

While the school board was “not entirely unresponsive” to Sage’s threat claims, giving her access to the nurse’s restroom, that falls short of “reasonably calculated” efforts to end her harassment, simply addressing it “in piecemeal,” wrote President Clinton-nominated Judge Roger Gregory, joined by President Biden nominee Judge DeAndrea Benjamin.

The court record shows “no indication” the board took action against the boys on the bus who allegedly “threatened her with sexual violence,” another group of males who “jacked” Sage against the wall and threatened her with violence, or students who “threatened to shoot” her “and told her they knew where she lived,” the majority says.

“In fact, the direct opposite happened” when school counselor Dena Olsen and deputy sheriff Daniel Gunter allegedly interrogated her and tried to get her to take back her claims that the boys were threatening her, Gregory wrote. Olsen had first told Sage to use the boys’ restroom and to go back when other girls reportedly complained about her in the girls’ restroom.

Even after being told to use the nurse’s restroom, Sage “continued to be so fearful for her and her family’s life that she ‘suffered a psychotic breakdown’ and opted to run away from home to save her family,” the majority said. 

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Report: Fairfax County Public Schools Investigates Claims Staff Arranged Students’ Abortions Without Parents’ Knowledge

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) in Virginia has opened an investigation into allegations school staff arranged abortions for students without parental notification and consent.

The investigation is based on claims from a report that school officials at Centreville High School in Union Hill arranged and paid for students’ abortions in 2021, including a 17-year-old girl, local news outlet WJLA reported.

“We learned yesterday of these concerning allegations from 2021,” FCPS told the outlet in a statement on Wednesday. “We are launching an immediate and comprehensive investigation as we take all concerns of student wellbeing very seriously.”

FCPS said “not to [our] knowledge” when the outlet pressed as whether staff have ever arranged abortions for students.

“We have launched an immediate investigation into these concerns as soon as we were made aware,” the district added.  

The district has a policy stating that ““every effort shall be made to encourage and support students suspecting pregnancy to discuss their concerns with their parents or guardians.” The policy does not require staff to tell parents, but it states: “In no case shall personnel commit themselves to maintain such information confidentially, keeping it from parents, guardians, or appropriate school authorities.”

The district told the outlet that district employees do not arrange abortions for FCPS students who are minors. When asked if FCPS employees inform students about abortions and where to get them, the district did not directly answer. 

“Students are referred to the public health nurse for any health-related matters. The public health nurses are Fairfax County Health Department employees,” the district told the outlet. 

Virginia state law requires parental consent and notification before a minor can obtain an abortion. 

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Entitled Virginia Superintendent Wants Security Guard To Protect Her From Criticism

T.S. Eliot claimed that “April is the cruelest month,” but in this homeschooling dad’s opinion, that dubious honor belongs to August. In one of the great ironies of modern American life, we choose to send our kids back to school amid the dog days of summer, a sweltering time that would be better spent at the community pool.

Back-to-school time is also an expensive proposition. The National Retail Federation claims that between new clothes and shoes, school supplies, and electronics, the average family will fork out over $850 this year to outfit their K-12 children. Teachers have it even worse; according to Adopt-A-Classroom, the average teacher spent almost $900 out of his own pocket to buy classroom supplies in the 2024-2025 school year.

But there’s at least one group that won’t need to make hard financial decisions this month: high-level educational bureaucrats. Take Dr. Michelle Reid, the superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS). Not only does her new contract give her a salary higher than that of the president of the United States, but she also gets a car allowance and is currently seeking a taxpayer-funded “executive protection agent” to shield her from the peasants she supposedly serves. “Queen Reid” embodies the entitled mindset of an educational establishment that refuses to learn from its mistakes.

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Virginia City Councilman Vogler Sustained Third-Degree Burns on 63% of His Body – Suspect Admits It Was His ‘Intention to Kill’ Vogler

Danville, Virginia, City Councilman Lee Vogler was doused in gasoline and set on fire in his office on Tuesday.

According to reports, the attacker, identified as Shotsie Michael Buck Hayes, 29, of Danville, threw five gallons of gasoline on Vogler before setting him on fire.

Danville police said the attack appears to be personal and not related to Vogler’s position as a city councilman.

The Daily Mail reported that Shotsie Michael Buck Hayes’ wife filed for divorce just two weeks ago.

Showcase Magazine’s Andrew Brooks said Buck-Hayes forced his way in the magazine’s office as Vogler was visiting and poured a five-gallon container of gas on him.

“Lee attempted to flee, ran to the front of the building,” Showcase Magazine owner Andrew Brooks said in a Facebook video. “The individual followed him and set him on fire.”

Vogler was flown to the UNC burn unit in Chapel Hill, according to WSET.

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Virginia councilman set on fire with gasoline by attacker at his workplace office

A Virginia city council member was rushed to a burn center after a man poured gasoline on him and set him on fire inside his workplace on Wednesday.

Andrew Brooks, publisher and owner of Showcase Magazine, said in a social media post that Danville City Council member Lee Vogler was working in the office when a person allegedly forced their way into the building just after 11 a.m. local time, carrying a five-gallon bucket of gasoline.

The man, who has not yet been identified, allegedly poured the gasoline on Vogler as he tried to run to the front of the building.

Brooks said in a Facebook video that the man followed Vogler and set him on fire.

During the attack, Vogler identified the suspect, who is now in police custody, according to Brooks.

Vogler sustained serious burn injuries and was taken to the Lynchburg burn center for treatment.

His current condition is unknown.

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NIMBY Lawsuit Accidentally Abolishes City’s Entire Zoning Code

The comedy of errors unfolding from a lawsuit challenging Charlottesville, Virginia’s new zoning code took a surprisingly libertarian turn last week when a judge’s ruling ended up voiding all the city’s zoning regulations.

The lawsuit, filed by neighborhood activists in early 2024, challenges the Charlottesville City Council’s decision to allow apartment buildings in more areas of the city and “middle housing” development in formerly single-family-only neighborhoods.

The plaintiffs, who are alleging the city failed to coordinate the zoning changes with infrastructure planning, appeared to score a total victory last week when Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Claude Worrell ruled that, because the city missed a key filing deadline, the new code had to be scrapped.

But now, local media outlets are reporting a surprising twist. Charlottesville had to repeal its old zoning code before passing the new one. With the new code now voided and the old one off the books, the city officially now has no zoning code to speak of.

In other words, a NIMBY lawsuit challenging a slightly more liberal zoning code has resulted in complete zoning abolition.

Critics of zoning like to point out that many of the things people think they like about zoning—rules regulating the health and safety of new buildings, stormwater runoff, etc.—actually have nothing to do with zoning at all.

Charlottesville’s accidental zoning abolition is a great illustration of that point.

As Charlottesville Tomorrow reports, building codes and other related regulations remain on the books. But the zoning code’s rules about where apartments can be built, how tall they can be, how many units they can include, etc. are gone.

​​”If there’s no ordinance, then we don’t even need site plans,” Justin Shimp, the head of a local engineering firm, told Charlottesville Tomorrow. “You would simply say, I want to build an apartment building, and I would turn the building permit into the building department, and if it met the [state] building code, they would approve it, and you would build an apartment building.”

Unfortunately for zoning critics, the city is doing what it can to prevent a blossoming of new unzoned development while it scrambles to reinstitute a zoning code.

City planning staff told Charlottesville Tomorrow that they will delay any processing of building applications that “involve zoning” until they receive “further legal and procedural clarity.”

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Virginia Enacts Law To Ban Nazi Symbols, Protects Sacred Swastika From Misrepresentation

Virginia has officially enacted House Bill 2783, which criminalises the display of Nazi symbols, including Hitler’s Hakenkreuz (Hooked Cross), when used with the intent to intimidate. The law, effective from July 1, makes such acts a Class 6 felony. What makes this legislation particularly historic is a culturally sensitive amendment that clearly differentiates Hitler’s Hakenkreuz, a symbol of hate, from the sacred Swastika, an ancient symbol of peace and prosperity revered by nearly two billion Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and other communities worldwide.

The final version of the Bill marks a major victory for minority communities in Virginia, particularly after a strong advocacy effort led by the Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA) and allied groups. “We are pleased to see how Virginia is tackling growing hate while being sensitive to minority groups that revere the Swastika,” said Nikunj Trivedi, President of CoHNA.

He added, “Now the need of the hour is for the media, law enforcement, and educational institutions in Virginia to update their language to reflect this critical nuance and ensure fair treatment for all.”

Evolution of HB2783

Initially, HB2783 had a major cultural oversight—wrongly referring to the Nazi symbol as the Swastika. In reality, Hitler never used the word ‘Swastika’; his symbol was the ‘Hakenkreuz’—German for ‘Hooked Cross.’ The Bill’s early wording incorrectly suggested that the Nazi emblem was “commonly known as the Swastika,” inadvertently linking a sacred symbol to one of history’s darkest ideologies.

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Virginia Man Faces 12 Months in Jail, $2,500 Fine for Drawing a Crosswalk With Chalk

After the city of Charlottesville, Virginia, denied requests to paint crosswalk lines at an intersection popular among pedestrians, Kevin Cox, a retired crossing guard, decided to take matters into his own hands by placing spray chalk lines in the shape of a crosswalk. He’s since been charged with intentional destruction of property, a Class I misdemeanor, and faces a sentence of up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.

Cox’s temporary crosswalk was placed at the intersection of Elliott Avenue and Second Street, which is often used by pedestrians visiting the Ix Art Park but does not have any painted crosswalk lines. Although 900 residents petitioned in October 2024 for a crosswalk to enhance safety following a fatal pedestrian-car crash at a nearby intersection, city officials responded by saying that pedestrians should cross at either First Street or Sixth Street, roughly 400 or 500 feet away, respectively, where painted crosswalks already exist. 

Irritated by the city’s inaction, Cox, an outspoken pedestrian advocate, placed his chalk lines in May 2025. “There is a marked crosswalk now at Second Street and Elliot Avenue in spite of you,” he told the city manager, Sam Sanders, in an email sent that same day. “It’s chalk, not paint. Please replace it with a real one,” reported 29News, a local NBC affiliate.  

Police said they couldn’t determine if the lines were permanent paint, according to the police report Cox shared with 29News, leading the city to cover them with black paint. Cox later turned himself in to the Charlottesville Police Department. “They have provoked me,” Cox told 29News, “it’s not going to stop me.” 

Pedestrian fatalities hit a 40-year high in 2022, increasing by 50 percent from 1.55 to 2.33 per 100,000 population since 2013. While there are several contributing factors, including larger vehicles with impaired visibility and high-speed roadways, some blame distracted driving. This has led 31 states to pass laws prohibiting device usage while driving since 2010.

Other government solutions range from the innocuous, like increased lighting at intersections, to the more controversial, like California’s vetoed car speed alarm bill or a $48 million proposal for new federal regulations. Placing one’s preferred road markings is a risky choice given the potential for increasing, rather than decreasing, overall safety. 

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Troublesome School District Once Again in DOJ’s Sights After Locker Room Disaster

Four years after Loudoun County Public Schools became the national poster child for cover-ups in the name of advancing the transgender agenda, the schools are again in the news over a gender-based complaint.

In 2021, the school and its leaders were pilloried after it was revealed that school officials knew about a sexual assault in a high school girl’s bathroom by a boy wearing a skirt but didn’t disclose it for weeks.

Now, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares is calling for the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education to investigate the district over “significant concerns regarding potential violations of Title IX, unlawful retaliation, and viewpoint discrimination,” according to a news release.

“The investigation reveals a disturbing misuse of authority by Loudoun County Public Schools, where students appear to have been targeted not for misconduct, but for expressing their discomfort for being forced to share a locker room with a member of the opposite sex,” Miyares said.

“Title IX was never meant to be used as a weapon against free speech or religious convictions. Every student in Virginia deserves the right to speak openly, think freely, and live according to their conscience without fear of retaliation. Protecting those rights is not political — it’s foundational to who we are as Americans.”

The release said the school retaliated against three male students at Stone Bridge High School after they objected to the school’s policy of letting gender identity determine access to bathrooms and locker rooms.

“Rather than safeguarding the constitutional rights of all students, LCPS appears to be punishing those who hold and express faith-based views,” the release said.

“Furthermore, there are persistent reports that LCPS and the School Board take adverse and potentially unlawful action against parents, teachers, and public speakers,” the release added.

WJLA-TV reported that the root cause of the issue was that a female student used a boys’ locker room and recorded the boys, prompting them to object.

“The boys indeed are the victims in this situation,” Miyares said. “There is no evidence, no corroborating evidence that we have found that they had sexually harassed anyone, that they had done anything even approaching what would be considered sex discrimination. The reality is, is that Loudoun County Schools, what we have found, have bad policy and bad judgment.”

“We’ve also seen, in our opinion, that the three students sincerely held religious beliefs, some of these students in question are Christian, some were Muslim, but they basically were told to be silent, to be quiet and not to express their sincerely held religious beliefs,” he said.

Miyares said the district is “weaponizing” Title IX.

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