Agency
Department of Education
 
Board
State Board of Education
 
Guidance Document Change: Every day, throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, educators and school leaders work to ensure that all students have an opportunity to receive a high-quality education. As a part of that work, educators strive to meet the individual needs of all students entrusted to their care, and teachers work to create educational environments where all students thrive. The Virginia Department of Education (the “Department”) recognizes that each child is a unique individual with distinctive abilities and characteristics that should be valued and respected. All students have the right to attend school in an environment free from discrimination, harassment, or bullying. The Department supports efforts to protect and encourage respect for all students. Thus, we have a collective responsibility to address topics such as the treatment of transgender students with necessary compassion and respect for all students. The Department also fully acknowledges the rights of parents to exercise their fundamental rights granted by the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to direct the care, upbringing, and education of their children. The Code of Virginia reaffirms the rights of parents to determine how their children will be raised and educated. Empowering parents is not only a fundamental right, but it is essential to improving outcomes for all children in Virginia. The Department is mindful of constitutional protections that prohibit governmental entities from requiring individuals to adhere to or adopt a particular ideological belief. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees religious freedom and prohibits the government from compelling speech that is contrary to an individual’s personal or religious beliefs. The Department embarked on a thorough review of the Model Policies Guidance adopted on March 4, 2021 (the “2021 Model Policies”). The 2021 Model Policies promoted a specific viewpoint aimed at achieving cultural and social transformation in schools. The 2021 Model Policies also disregarded the rights of parents and ignored other legal and constitutional principles that significantly impact how schools educate students, including transgender students. With the publication of these 2022 Model Policies (the “2022 Model Policies”), the Department hereby withdraws the 2021 Model Policies, which shall have no further force and effect. The Department issues the 2022 Model Policies to provide clear, accurate, and useful guidance to Virginia school boards that align with statutory provisions governing the Model Policies. See Code of Virginia, § 22.1-23.3 (the “Act”). Significantly, the 2022 Model Policies also consider over 9,000 comments submitted to the Department during the public comment period for the 2021 Model Policies.
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9/28/22  10:46 am
Commenter: VA Parent

Fully support this rational policy - thank you!
 

I'm the parent of two (2) children currently enrolled in Virginia public schools.  I fully support this rational policy.  I read the entire policy and have zero recommended changes - it is great how it is written.

This is an incredibly fair policy that moves Virginia back to a more reasonable perspective, enabling a collaboration between schools and parents (II. Guiding Principals, paragraph B).  Parents should be the ones who are involved in all aspects of their children, including preferred names and preferred gender identification, and this policy rightfully establishes that parental involvement and appropriate role of schools in our children's lives.  The proposed policy also addresses bullying in a good way, providing balance to the overall approach.  I particularly like that this policy requires parents to provide in writing any name or gender change, and requires parental notification for all counseling - these are both things parents should be involved with.  The only thing i didn't see are consequences for districts, schools, and school personnel that violate the proposed policy.

To counter those who oppose this policy, if a child is in danger at home for any reason, the school still has appropriate paths to report that danger.  This policy does not remove those mechanisms for protecting children at home.  If a parent is abusive, that parent should be reported and investigated regardless of the reason for the abuse, and this policy aligns with that.  And this policy won't result in kids committing suicide - that's a ridiculous argument that is not founded in solid science (the math on this needs to be addressed in this policy).  The hyperbole around kids being in danger at home is overblown, and the underlying mental challenges of these kids has not been addressed enough.  Adults have to go to court to change their names - why should it be different for kids? And most importantly, no adult should keep secrets with children that are not theirs (e.g. no school teacher or staff should have a secret with someone's kid, ever, even if it means 'outing' a kid) - this policy makes sure that those secrets do not happen. Children should not be encouraged to keep secrets from their parents, ever.

Thank you Virginia and Governor Youngkin!!

CommentID: 158868