The Loudoun County school board reached a confidential settlement with two male students whose families sued after the students were investigated and suspended following a March 2025 locker-room incident at Stone Bridge High School. A Title IX investigation led to findings and 10-day suspensions for two students, and a federal judge temporarily blocked discipline while the case proceeded. The Department of Justice sought to intervene but was denied after the parties settled.
Loudoun County Reaches Confidential Settlement After Stone Bridge Locker-Room Dispute
Loudoun County Public School students were put under a Title IX investigation because they questioned why a biological female was in the boys' locker room.(Getty Images)
A Northern Virginia school board has reached a confidential settlement with the families of two male students who were investigated and suspended after raising concerns about a student assigned female at birth who identifies as male entering the boys' locker room at Stone Bridge High School.
What Happened
The incident occurred in March 2025 when a student assigned female at birth who identifies as male recorded three male students in the boys' locker room. The recording captured the students expressing confusion and discomfort about sharing the space.
Loudoun County Public Schools policy allows students to use the locker room and restrooms that correspond with their gender identity.
School Response and Investigation
Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) follows a policy that allows students to use restrooms and locker rooms corresponding to their gender identity. After the recording surfaced, the district opened a Title IX investigation. LCPS found two of the three students responsible for sexual harassment and discrimination and issued 10-day suspensions, according to reporting. The district later dropped the Title IX allegation against one student, while pursuing additional Title IX allegations against the other two, as reported by attorneys representing the students.
Legal Action and Mediation
The students' families sued the school board in federal court seeking to block the suspensions and remove the Title IX findings from their sons' records. In September, a federal judge granted the families emergency relief and temporarily stayed the district's disciplinary actions while litigation continued.
The DOJ sought to intervene on behalf of the LCPS students, citing alleged religious liberty violations by the school district.
Court records and reporting indicate that a federal judge ordered the parties into mediation and that the case was resolved through a confidential settlement. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
Attorneys for the students said their clients are very happy with the result. — Founding Freedoms Law Center
Federal Interest and Reactions
The U.S. Department of Justice sought to intervene in the case, arguing that the students' religious freedoms were implicated, but a federal judge denied the Justice Department's motion to intervene after the settlement was reached.
Loudoun County Public Schools declined to comment. The Founding Freedoms Law Center, which represented the students, and America First Legal both praised the settlement and said they would continue to advocate for students' and parents' rights in similar disputes.
Key Dates and Facts
- Incident date: March 2025
- School: Stone Bridge High School, Loudoun County, Virginia
- Initial discipline: Title IX findings and 10-day suspensions for two students
- Legal status: Case resolved through confidential mediation and settlement
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