The Arlington School Board held its regularly scheduled public meeting on Aug. 22 at Syphax Education Center in Arlington.

The board celebrated the hiring of teachers and the start of the school year. However, the normal business of the local elected body was overshadowed by the presence of the Republican gubernatorial candidate and current lieutenant governor of Virginia, Winsome Earle-Sears. She came to the meeting to admonish the board for its affirming policies for trans and gender nonconforming students.

A rally in support of the Arlington School Board’s LGBTQ-inclusive policies was held outside of the building before the meeting and was attended by Arlington public officials and scores of community activists. The rally was organized by Equality Arlington and the Arlington Gender Identity Alliance.

The transgender-inclusive policies of Arlington County Schools are currently under fire by the U.S. Department of Education.

“The Department of Education made a demand on five Northern Virginia school systems — including Arlington County — to not only cease all current policies that protect the rights and dignity of transgender and nonbinary students, but to remove the concept of gender identity from policy entirely,” Equality Arlington Vice President Samantha Perez explained.

“Last week, all five of these school systems — Arlington included — told the Department of Education that they would not be complying with this order,” Perez continued. “We’re here to thank the Arlington Public School System for standing up to the bullies in the Trump administration and in the Department of Education.”

Other speakers at the rally included Arlington County Board members Maureen Coffey and Julius “JD” Spain, Sr., as well as Commonwealth’s Attorney for Arlington County, Parisa Dehghani-Tafti. Approximately 100 people attended the rally in support of the school board. There was also a smaller group of supporters of Earle-Sears, holding “Parents for Winsome” signs, standing to the side.

Several speakers at the rally mentioned the anticipated appearance of Earle-Sears at the local school board meeting.

“Some have said that this is like a political stunt. And quite honestly, that is what it is,” Spain mused. “Our kids are preparing to go to school on Aug. 25 — next Monday — when they should be finalizing the joy of the summer … And guess what? We’ve got people coming into Arlington’s back yard, want to make a political stunt, want to make national news to gain some edge.”

“Well, let me tell you something, let me give you some late breaking news: It is not going to happen in Arlington. Wrong City, wrong county, try again.”

Dehghani-Tafti said, “I understand that the lieutenant governor is here. And my message to her is this: If you break the law in Arlington, you will be held accountable, no matter your identity, as we are doing in our current prosecution. But we in Arlington: what we do not do … what we will not do … is treat kids like criminals when all they want to do is just go to school.”

“The laws of the commonwealth of Virginia and of our federal government support Arlington Public Schools making this decision and making it for our kids here in Arlington,” said Coffey. “And so while our school board members are actually physically inside right now, meeting with their attorneys, figuring out how we are going to navigate this situation, they wish they could be preparing for the start of school on Monday, as they should be focused on today … instead, they are dealing with the media circus that has been created by people who are not from our community and who do not care about our kids.”

Following the speeches, activists from both sides of the debate entered the Arlington School Board meeting room, with some signing up to speak in the public comment period. Members of the community were allowed two minutes per person to speak on a topic relevant to the Arlington School Board. The majority of speakers at the meeting on Thursday were on the topic of Arlington County School’s trans-inclusive policies.

Arlington Public Schools Superintendent Francisco Durán issued a statement before the public comment period began.

“On Friday, APS and other local school divisions responded to a request from the U.S. Department of Education regarding our transgender student policy,” Durán said. “We strongly disagree with the department’s assertion that our policy violates Title IX.”

“To the contrary, our policy [complies] with both state and federal law, including the Virginia Values Act, and it is also supported by recent court decisions affirming protections for students,” Durán continued. “In response to our latest action, the department has placed APS under a ‘high risk’ designation. We are reviewing this with our attorneys. But based on these developments, I want to assure our community as we open school on Monday that our priority is and always will be to protect the wellbeing of our students and our staff and our families.”

Arlington School Board Chair Bethany Zecher Sutton then addressed the meeting.

“The U.S. Department of Education’s actions have raised questions around funding for schools,” Sutton said. “We are seeking to understand how the designation of ‘high risk’ status may effect our system. But we want to reassure the community: we will continue to advance and defend policies protecting the rights of every student and to promote public education as one of the cornerstones of our democracy. We strongly believe that the diversity of our Arlington school community is one of our greatest strengths. The school board recognizes and respects the diverse experiences of our LGBTQIA+ students, staff and families.”

While the majority of speakers during the public comment period spoke in favor of the trans-inclusive policies of the Arlington School Board, Earle-Sears was joined by a few others to speak against them.

“Here’s the truth, there are two sexes: boys and girls,” Earle-Sears said at the podium. “And for generations, we’ve understood this: that they deserve their own sports teams, their own locker rooms, their own bathrooms. That’s not discrimination, it is common sense.”

Earle-Sears continued, “You are one of the five NOVA school districts who have been found in violation of Title IX. Title IX was written to protect biological girls’ spaces and opportunities on the basis of biological sex, not gender identity. And by refusing to reverse your reckless policies, you are failing our daughters and risking losing millions of dollars in funding our children.”

Earle-Sears left the public meeting to hold a press conference outside following her two minute remarks.