PRESS RELEASE: DFI Files Federal Civil Rights Complaint Against Arlington Public Schools for Failing to Protect Women and Girls from Sexual Harassment in School-Operated Locker Rooms

WASHINGTON— Today, the Defense of Freedom Institute for Policy Studies (DFI) filed a federal civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education requesting the agency’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) open an investigation into Arlington Public Schools (APS) for violating Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The complaint arises from an APS policy and practice that does not prohibit men from entering and using a women’s locker room operated and controlled by the school district.

In its complaint, DFI details how APS officials ignored multiple warnings from parents and community members about a convicted sex offender exposing himself to young girls and women in the Washington-Liberty Aquatics Center’s female locker room—a facility operated and controlled by APS. Despite numerous complaints to APS staff and administrators, the school district failed to act, allowing the harassment to continue for weeks before the suspect was arrested in December 2024.

“Despite being informed of the [suspect’s] sexual harassment of girls and women by multiple parents and pool patrons, APS and its employees did nothing to protect the children in their care or, for that matter, any girls or women using its pool facilities,” the complaint states. Instead, APS staff dismissed concerns and suggested that women and girls uncomfortable with a male in their locker room should use a different facility. This deliberate indifference to known acts of sexual harassment is a blatant violation of Title IX’s protections.

Ginny Gentles, Director of DFI’s Education Freedom and Parental Rights Initiative, who is also a complainant in the case, said, “Arlington Public Schools failed to fulfill its most basic duty: keeping women and girls safe from sexual harassment in school facilities. Despite multiple reports from concerned community members, APS did nothing—leaving young girls vulnerable to a convicted sex offender. Instead of taking immediate action, district officials doubled down on its so-called inclusive policies, refused to enforce Title IX’s protections, and placed gender identity ideology over student safety.”

DFI’s complaint outlines how APS’s policies and actions—and continued failure to respond—constitute a blatant violation of Title IX and urges OCR to launch an investigation, consider appropriate sanctions, and ensure APS takes immediate corrective action to comply with federal law.

“This is one reason why Title IX exists—to protect the rights of women and girls to participate in educational programs free from sexual harassment,” said Don Daugherty, DFI’s Senior Litigation Counsel. “APS ignored the law, leaving young girls vulnerable to a predator’s sexual harassment. The school district must be held accountable.”

To read the OCR complaint in full, click here.