by Zoe Scontras
I attended Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) in Virginia from eighth grade through high school. I had my concerns then about how the school board ran the district. But what’s happeningnnow reveals a deeper problem – one that should alarm parents and policymakers throughout the country, including here in Maine.
In 2021, my junior year, the school board voted to allow transgender students to use the bathroom or locker room of their choice. This policy resulted in a series of Title IX controversies – one of which gained national attention.
More recently, in May, a transgender student – who presents as a girl but identifies as a boy – recorded three freshman boys expressing their discomfort with undressing in front of the transgender student. LCPS responded by launching an investigation into the three freshmen for violating Title IX, not the student who recorded them.
Following this event, the mother of one of the boys being investigated by LCPS said the following in testimony before the school board:
“I’m here to speak on behalf of my son who has been wrongfully accused of Title IX. In truth, he is a victim of Title IX violation, ignored and unsupported by the very system that is supposed to protect him.”
It’s hard to believe, but this is our new reality. Students who rightly feel uncomfortable being in private spaces with individuals of the opposite biological sex are facing punishment while policies like Title IX, which were created to ensure safety and fairness among boys and girls based on their gender, are now being weaponized to enforce rigid adherence to an ideology which the majority of Mainers and Americans oppose.
What’s happened in Loudoun County should have served as a warning to every parent, school board member and elected official in Maine. Instead, governors like Janet Mills and other left-wing politicians continue to push their radical politics and refuse to accept the truth: The gender identity policies they support have not only led to the rampant misuse of Title IX, but they are now openly violating student privacy rights and fairness in athletics. What’s more insidious is that they’re proud of it.
If Maine wants to avoid the continued dysfunction that’s present in Virginia, lawmakers and school board members should view Loudoun County not as a model, but as a cautionary tale.
Reading and writing scores for Maine students fell to record lows in 2024. Thirty years ago, Maine’s public school system was among the best in the country. Today, we’re among the worst. There’s little doubt that these low test scores and the continued decline of student achievement reflect that ideological education is not working. Maine students deserve better, as do all K-12 students across the country.
Students deserve a quality education and to feel safe in their schools. Local and state policies should prioritize students’ security and economic futures over political narratives and identity politics.
Unfortunately, instead of teaching the basics, Gov. Janet Mills and the Maine Department of Education have glommed onto the radical gender identity politics that began in Loudoun County. This madness began in our public school systems as a way to reshape American values. But when and where does it end?
Zoe Scontras is a Susan K. Hamill Summer 2025 communications intern for Maine Policy Institute. The Maine Wire is a project of the Maine Policy Institute.
