On November 10, 2021, a settlement was reached in the case of Byron Tanner Cross vs. the Loudoun County School Board.

Back in late May, Leesburg Elementary School physical education teacher Byron “Tanner” Cross chose to take a stand and speak up against the Loudoun County School Board District’s Policy 8040, which dictated insertion of transgender policies and language rules into the educational setting.

For Cross’ objection to the policy and his statement that he would not adhere to it, Cross was promptly placed on leave, and then suspended by the Loudoun County School District. With the help of the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), Cross sued the school board, and the VA Circuit Court imposed an injunction that allowed Cross to be reinstated until December 31, 2021, while the ADF and the County hashed things out in court.

Cross’s suspension was one among the many misjudgments, mistakes, violations, and fraudulent behavior that the Loudoun County School Board has made. From two sexual assaults no doubt spawned from that very transgender policy, to the County’s cover up of said assaults, to the father of the first girl assaulted being targeted, maligned, and arrested, to the board implementing more invasive policies and curriculum surrounding sex and gender, the RedState team has documented the lot of them. And no doubt, there will be more to come.

The Loudoun County School District chose to cut one of their considerable losses, and the School Board came to a settlement with Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and Cross.

Fox News reports:

The Loudoun County School Board has agreed to a permanent injunction prohibiting it from retaliating against Leesburg Elementary School teacher Tanner Cross, the teacher who got suspended for speaking out against the pro-transgender Policy 8040. The school board settled Cross’s lawsuit by agreeing not to take further action against him, but Cross and other teachers are still challenging 8040 in court.

“Just today, the court issued a final order permanently prohibiting the Loudoun County Public School Board from punishing me for freely expressing my views,” Cross said at a news conference after the settlement on Monday. “I can now confidently continue teaching at Leesburg Elementary School without fear of punishment for expressing my views.”

Policy 8040 requires school staff to refer to students by their preferred pronouns, to open activities to students according to their gender identity, to allow students access to facilities corresponding to gender identity, and to complete training on topics related to LGBTQ+ students.

It’s a significant win. Scott Ziegler, the Loudoun County Superintendent, and Lucia Villa Sebastian, interim Assistant Superintendent are required to remove any reference to Cross’ suspension from his permanent record. They also cannot retaliate against Cross in any way for his speech against Policy 8040. The school district will also cover the legal fees ADF has incurred.

Cross is part of a group of teachers who have filed additional claims against 8040. This portion of the lawsuit against the Loudoun County School Board will continue.