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 4:53 pm

Commenter: Kim

Strongly Opposed to the Proposed Changes to Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students

These proposed changes are just another example of someone trying to send our Commonwealth back 100 years in time. The partisan politics that are being used to twist the U.S. Constitution and our public policies are one of the primary reasons our children are so depressed and anxious about their futures. Every time we take a step forward to providing them with a safe and secure environment where they can growth and learn without judgement, there is someone, like Gov. Youngkin, trying to push things backwards to a time when schools were segregated, women were to be kept bare-foot and pregnant, and homosexuals were jailed for not being "normal". The majority of Virginians do not want this change. It is just a political ploy that should remind us why it is so important to vote in every single election, especially at the state level. The policies that guide the day-to-day practices in our schools should not be changed in this manner. This will have long term negative effects on our children. No matter what Gov. Youngkin says his actions clearly show that he is not interested in giving our educators the tools to make Virginia schools better. The welfare of our children is obviously not one of his priorities.

CommentID: 200110