Arlington Public Schools (APS) announced a change to its public pool policy last week, with members of the public now required to undergo screening against a sexual offender database, following the arrest of Richard Cox, a registered sex offender who allegedly exposed himself to women and children in women’s facilities after claiming to identify as a transgender woman.
The public school system, which allows its pools, restrooms, and locker rooms to be used by the public when school is not in session, announced new policies that took effect last week. These include requirements for visitors to have their photo taken, present identification, and consent to be scanned against a national database of sex offenders, among other requirements.
“We have updated the APS Aquatic Centers admission policies for the pool facilities at Wakefield, Washington-Liberty, and Yorktown high schools to mirror the Arlington Public Schools standard of a 100% ID check against the sex offender database before being allowed to enter any APS pool,” the school system confirmed.
In addition to its policy changes, APS said it would “assign a School Safety Coordinator (SSC) to each pool to help manage and monitor pool safety and security and oversee visitor management.”
Absent from the ABS announcement was any mention of the school system changing its transgender bathroom policy, which specifically allows individuals to use the locker rooms or bathrooms that correspond to their chosen gender identity, rather than their biological gender.
It was this policy that reportedly allowed Cox to expose himself to women and children in a Washington Liberty High School girls’ locker room, according to 7 News.
Law enforcement has charged Cox with a total of 22 crimes related to a series of incidents that occurred at two public schools and a fitness center, where Cox was apparently arrested and incarcerated ahead of trial after he allegedly provided a false identity to police who were trespassing him at the request of the business.
Across the Potomac, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA-04) recently established rules that restrict women’s restrooms at the Capitol to biological women after a man who identifies as a transgender woman was elected to Congress.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
