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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10/26/22 1:32 pm

Commenter: Elizabeth Fabrizio

Rescind the proposed 2022 Model Policies because they discriminate against trans students

As the parent of a student in Arlington Public Schools, I strongly oppose the proposed 2022 Model Policies on the Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for all Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools. I supported the evidence-based 2021 Model Policies on Transgender Students that protected trans students in school.

The proposed 2022 model policies go against the Virginia Human Rights Act, which expressly protects individuals from discrimination on the basis of gender identity in educational institutions. Schools should not be a place where transgender students feel unsafe or face discrimination.

Creating safe spaces at school for transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive students allow these students to learn with less anxiety and worry over bathrooms and changing spaces for PE, and to feel safe from bullying and discrimination. Teachers and school administrators and staff must be free to support these students in accordance with the evidence-based recommendations of the major medical and mental health professional associations.

The 2022 model policies specifically discriminate against transgender students who are independently exploring their gender identity when their parents don’t accept them. These proposed model policies define transgender students as only those whose parents affirm them. Far too many young people can’t tell their parents about their gender identity because they fear that they will be abused or kicked out of their home. Public schools in Virginia must be a safe, affirming place for them, not another place where their identity is rejected.

As a parent, I want transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive students to feel safe and to thrive in school. These 2022 proposed model policies will make school much harder for these students and should be rejected. Please rescind these proposed 2022 model policies and reinstate the affirming 2021 Model Policies on Transgender Students.

CommentID: 198967