lawsuit | FFXnow

Published September 16, 2025 at 1:50PM | Updated September 22, 2025 at 11:59AM

A Trans Day of Visibility rally outside a school board meeting at Luther Jackson Middle School (staff photo by Vernon Miles)

Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent (FCPS) Michelle Reid sent a message to the school community explaining more about the ongoing legal fight with the U.S. Department of Education (DOE).

Earlier this month, a federal judge in Alexandria dismissed a lawsuit the Fairfax and Arlington school boards filed against the DOE after the federal department froze their funding. The DOE put the schools on “high risk” status and restricted their access to federal funds after they refused to rescind policies allowing students to use bathrooms and other facilities that match their gender identity.

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FCPS asks appeals court to stop Trump administration from cutting off federal funds

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 10, 2025 at 9:15AM | Updated September 10, 2025 at 10:12AM

FCPS Pride supporters hold signs at a rally outside Luther Jackson Middle School (staff photo by Jared Serre)

Fairfax County Public Schools is appealing the dismissal of its lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education.

The school system asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit of Virginia yesterday (Tuesday) to overturn a lower court’s decision denying a preliminary injunction that would’ve prevented the Education Department (DOE) from restricting its access to federal funding, Superintendent Michelle Reid announced.

News

Reston military contractor appeals order to pay $42M to former Abu Ghraib detainees

By Associated Press

Published September 9, 2025 at 1:45PM

A courtroom sketch depicts former Abu Ghraib prison detainee Salah Al-Ejaili at the trial of CACI, a Reston-based military contractor accused of contributing to the abuse and torture of detainees in U.S. District Court in Alexandria on April 16, 2024. (image by Dana Verkouteren via AP)

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Appellate judges heard arguments Tuesday in an appeal brought by a U.S. military contractor ordered to pay $42 million for contributing to the torture of three former detainees at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison, with judges questioning the accuracy of some legal filings by the contractor.

The three-judge panel in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments and questioned attorneys for nearly an hour in the appeal brought by Reston, Virginia-based CACI, which is challenging last year’s civil lawsuit that led to a finding against it. The judges did not immediately issue a ruling. It’s not clear when an opinion could come.

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UPDATED: FCPS ‘disappointed’ by dismissal of lawsuit to halt funding freeze

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 8, 2025 at 8:30AM | Updated September 8, 2025 at 10:40AM

Justice statue over the entrance to the Albert V. Bryan U.S. Courthouse in Alexandria (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Fairfax County Public Schools has encountered at least a temporary setback in its bid to prevent the federal government from cutting off funding over its support for transgender students.

On Friday (Sept. 5), a federal judge in Alexandria dismissed the lawsuit that the Fairfax and Arlington county school boards had filed against the U.S. Education Department, denying their requests for an injunction to halt the funding freeze as the case proceeds.

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BREAKING: FCPS sues Education Department for freezing funding over transgender policies

By Angela Woolsey

Published August 29, 2025 at 2:55PM

A community member waves an LGBTQ pride flag at the rally protesting Virginia's model policies on transgender students (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

The Fairfax County School Board is suing the Trump administration for withholding federal funds in retaliation for its refusal to scrap policies supporting transgender students.

At its meeting last night (Thursday), its first of the new academic year, the school board authorized a lawsuit against the U.S. Education Department alleging that its denial of funds to Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) violates federal laws and the Constitution, Superintendent Michelle Reid announced today.

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Two FCPD leaders dropped from wrongful death lawsuit over fatal police shooting

By Jared Serre

Published August 11, 2025 at 3:45PM

A Fairfax County police car (file photo)

Two Fairfax County Police Department commanders have been dropped from a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the mother of the victim in a fatal police shooting.

A federal judge on Friday (Aug. 8) granted the removal of both Deputy Chief Wilson Lee and Major Scott Colwell from the civil lawsuit initiated by the mother of Timothy Johnson, who was killed by a police officer during a chase in February 2023.

News

UPDATED: Herndon sues Comstock, demanding return of downtown redevelopment site

By Angela Woolsey

Published July 11, 2025 at 5:50PM | Updated July 15, 2025 at 5:47PM

A sign showing the concept plan for Comstock's downtown Herndon redevelopment project (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Herndon is officially taking legal action against Comstock Companies after the developer backed out of its long-stalled downtown redevelopment project last year.

The town filed a lawsuit in Fairfax County Circuit Court this afternoon (Friday) demanding that Comstock return the nearly 5-acre site that it planned to transform into a mixed-use block with an arts center, apartments, retail space and a parking garage.

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McDaniel steps away as Fairfax school board’s budget chair amid embezzlement allegations

By Jared Serre

Published May 1, 2025 at 9:00AM | Updated March 19, 2026 at 3:56PM

At-large Fairfax Board of Supervisors representative Kyle McDaniel (staff photo by James Jarvis)

A Fairfax County School Board member accused of defrauding a company he is a part owner of out of more than $1.5 million has stepped away as chairman of the board’s budget committee.

Kyle McDaniel, an at-large representative, no longer oversees the committee, having willingly ceded the position to vice chair Rachna Sizemore Heizer in recent weeks, he confirmed to FFXnow.

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Union battle to represent Fairfax County government workers heads to court

By Angela Woolsey

Published April 10, 2025 at 9:45AM

SEIU Virginia 512 and other unions rally in support of collective bargaining for Fairfax County government workers on Oct. 5, 2021 (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

More than three years after Fairfax County leaders authorized collective bargaining, a majority of the county government’s workers have yet to choose a representative for future contract negotiations.

That could soon change, as one established union gears up for a potential election this month, while a challenger turns to the courts in an effort to halt the vote.

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DEVELOPING: FCPS facing federal investigation over transgender policies

By James Jarvis

Published February 14, 2025 at 2:15PM | Updated February 14, 2025 at 3:24PM

A community member waves an LGBTQ pride flag at the rally protesting Virginia's model policies on transgender students (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Several Northern Virginia school districts, including Fairfax County Public Schools, are in the crosshairs of the U.S. Department of Education after a conservative legal group filed a complaint challenging their transgender-inclusive bathroom and locker room policies.

The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) opened an investigation this week into Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandria, Loudoun and Prince William schools in response to the complaint from America First Legal, a nonprofit founded by former Trump advisor Stephen Miller.