Liberals in Virginia and conservatives in California have secured key wins on school boards that are allowing them to go against state leadership and enact what they believe are the proper policies regarding the gender identities of their pupils. 

Acting superintendent Michele Mitchell has been appointed the full-time superintendent of Newport News Public Schools in Virginia and Raúl Peña will lead Hutto ISD in Texas.

And levels grew in every other state as families took matters into their own hands to ensure their child's needs were met, whether academically or emotionally. "Districts now have more staff than ever and fewer students," said Marguerite Roza, director of Georgetown University's Edunomics Lab, in June. "So what happens next?"

It was an explosive claim — that a Virginia school district covered up a crime in order to protect transgender rights. But was it true?