Overview

• At a Thursday stop outside a Fairfax County school board meeting, Republican nominee Winsome Earle-Sears called the district’s bathroom policy “nonsense” and urged reporters to press Abigail Spanberger for a clear stance.
• In a local TV interview earlier this week, Spanberger declined a yes-or-no answer and defended Virginia’s prior decade-long process in which roughly 40 students were evaluated individually, with some approved and some denied.
• Pressed on potential legislation, Spanberger said she would back a bill that sets clear provisions but preserves substantial local input based on a student’s age, the sport involved, and competitiveness.
• Republicans including Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the Republican Governors Association, and advocacy groups amplified Spanberger’s remarks, citing a Title IX complaint over a Fairfax locker room incident to argue she supports allowing biological males in girls’ spaces.
• The Education Department announced it would cancel more than $65 million in magnet school grants for New York City, Chicago, and Fairfax County after those districts refused to roll back gender-inclusive policies, escalating the stakes for local schools.