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The U.S. Department of Education has opened a Title IX investigation into Fairfax County Public Schools over its response to sexual assault reports involving an 18-year-old student at Fairfax High School.

The federal review will examine whether Virginia’s largest school system discriminated on the basis of sex while handling accusations made by a dozen female students.

FCPS said Tuesday that it had received the complaint and was reviewing it. The district said it would cooperate fully with the Education Department’s inquiry.

Israel Flores Ortiz, 18, faces multiple counts of assault and battery after several students told police that he touched them inappropriately in school hallways. He was arrested March 7 and remains jailed without bond.

The school system said it is cooperating with law enforcement but declined to provide further details while the investigation continues.

Superintendent Michelle Reid announced last week that FCPS had hired the law firm McGuireWoods to conduct an independent review. The firm will examine what happened, when it occurred and whether school employees followed all applicable policies, procedures and regulations.

The Title IX investigation is part of a wider Education Department review of several Northern Virginia school systems’ compliance with federal law. That broader examination also includes policies governing bathroom use based on students’ gender identity.

The Department of Homeland Security has said Flores Ortiz entered the United States illegally from El Salvador in 2024.

He is scheduled for an adjudicatory hearing April 9 in Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. During that proceeding, a judge will consider the evidence and determine whether he is guilty.