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  10:50 am
Commenter: Sasha

Strongly Oppose
 

This policy will harm children. It will not help children learn and thrive. Instead it legislates and limits the free expression of a child. And this expression does not harm another person. Supporting a child by calling them by their preferred pronoun, allowing them to use the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity, and letting them play sports with others of their gender expression greatly improves the lives of these children. It gives them the acceptance and affirmation that we all seek. It supports children who are vulnerable and who experience increased rates of suicide. We should be doing all we can to support transgender kids!

By taking away these protections, we endanger the health, safety and well-being of transgender students. They will experience heightened stigma and discrimination. It will harm their mental health. 

And what are the risks to the rest of the student population? There is no evidence that letting transgender people use bathrooms that align with their gender identity increases safety risks. And girls sports will not be impacted when the number of transgender students is tiny. Less than 2% of students identity as transgender and not all of them play sports. Our main focus should be on helping our vulnerable students, and making sure all of them are able to thrive. The number of transgender students is so small but the impact of this law would greatly harm them.

CommentID: 158913