FIRST ON FOX: Arlington Public Schools (APS) in Virginia has taken a stand by permitting students to participate in activities and use facilities that align with their gender identity. This decision comes despite the executive order issued by President Donald Trump and the Department of Education’s stance on gender identity in K-12 schools.
Chris Willmore, who oversees health, physical education, driver’s education, and athletics at APS, was captured on a hidden camera by the Accuracy in Media group, discussing the district’s approach in October.
“Currently, Arlington is adhering to our interpretation of Title IX,” Willmore stated in the video. “This means students are allowed to engage in activities corresponding to the gender with which they identify. They also have access to facilities matching their gender identity. However, this has placed us in a legal dispute with the federal Department of Education.”
He further noted, “There are five school divisions in Northern Virginia that are not complying with the federal Department of Education’s interpretation.”
Arlington Public Schools’ stance, as articulated by Willmore, underscores their commitment to allowing students to use facilities based on their identified gender, in clear defiance of the federal guidelines and executive directives.
This revelation comes in the wake of an incident involving Richard Cox, a registered Tier III sex offender, who faced charges for exposing himself in women’s facilities within APS premises 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.
President Donald Trump’s January executive order has led to various court battles between APS and the Department of Education. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“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.
President Donald Trump and Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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.
Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News Digital covering breaking news. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston
