A wealthy county in court over sexual misconduct at schools

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — Virginia’s largest school district is defending itself in three separate federal lawsuits filed by students who say the school system botched sexual misconduct investigations.

Two involve boys who say they were wrongly accused and punished by Fairfax County Public Schools. Their accusers retracted some of their most serious allegations, but administrators concluded they were guilty of lesser misconduct, including obnoxious sexual jokes and leering social-media messages.

A third involves a girl who says her allegations that a boy molested her on a bus during a school band trip were not taken seriously.

The lawsuits come as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos pushes nationally for more due process for the accused in such cases.