Virginia Regulatory Town Hall View Comments

Department of Education

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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10/21/22 11:05 am

Commenter: Allie H.

Support! Schools are NOT to supersede parental authority.

I'm grateful for Governor Youngkin's Model Policies that bring common sense back into the educational system concerning gender issues as they relate to child safety and parental authority. The role of educators is not to belittle a parent or place themselves above the authority of a parent or guardian. Transgender policies that deny parental authority create confusion in the lives of children. While transgender issues are real, and certainly important to a select demographic of people, unfortunately, however, they negatively impact the common good of all students across Virginia due to the upheaval and unnecessary division they create. I could write more, but obviously there have been many comments (both pro and con). Most important is the long-term effects these policies can have on the life of a child as well as the relationship with their immediate family members. Any policy that jeopardizes a child's safety as well as their relationship with the people who ultimately are responsible for them (parents/guardians) is not beneficial. Please stay the course and protect children and families. Encourage policies that focus on protecting parental rights and truly educating students in terms of what they need to grow into healthy, whole, responsible adults. The purpose of education is to equip students with character and skills beneficial to society as a whole - rather than a subset of society that creates division and distraction away from the continued growth of a healthy, whole civilization.

CommentID: 191851