Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
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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10/26/22  12:58 pm
Commenter: Anonymous

I oppose these proposed 2022 Model Policies as a parent of a trans child
 

I am writing as a parent of a transgender child in Northern Virginia. She transitioned socially before kindergarten and has continued through school as the girl she is. She is generally happy at school and in our community and has a great group of friends. She is busy with school, Girl Scouts, soccer, and other activities typical of girls her age.

The proposed 2022 Model Policies will harm her and other trans students if they go into effect. Trans students might be challenged in the bathroom or in PE, and they might be called by their dead name by any teacher who is curious enough to look through their school records and who believes their religion gives them permission to decide what names or pronouns to use with a child, regardless of what the child tells them. Trans students would be subject to harassment by classmates and school employees. School would no longer be a safe place to learn.

The proposed 2022 model policies claim to support parental rights, but they do not do so. Instead they reject the rights of parents of transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive students who want their children to learn in a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment. The proposed 2022 model policies reject the rights of parents who want their children to know and appreciate a learning environment that affirms LGBTQ+ students and adults.

Trans-affirming schools save lives. These proposed 2022 model policies will harm students in the name of preserving the religious values of a minority of Virginia residents who reject inclusivity and diversity. The proposed 2022 model policies will leave many transgender students in Virginia without a safe space and without a safe adult. 

Furthermore, the Virginia Human Rights Act provides protection against discrimination based on gender identity. Other federal laws and court cases have affirmed the rights of transgender individuals to use bathrooms that match their gender identity. These proposed 2022 model policies violate these laws.

Rescind these proposed 2022 model policies and reinstate the evidence-based trans-affirming model policies of 2021.

CommentID: 198850