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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10/24/22 5:32 pm

Commenter: Robin Shepherd

All students should feel safe in school

Many people have commented and shared data and opinions. One thing I think we all can agree upon is that the safety of all students is important. No child should feel afraid at school. Students should be able to speak with trusted adults at school if/when they are afraid or feel unsafe. Teachers can make all kids feel valued by addressing them respectfully and can easily avoid using a pronoun when speaking with students. Another issue discussed is restrooms. Obviously, the bathrooms at home are coed and using technology to monitor who enters and exits restrooms at school is not a heavy lift. In fact, many schools already have a monitoring system in place that doesn't invade privacy.

Another area in school buildings that has been identified as a place where safety can be an issue is locker rooms. We learned during COVID that closing the locker rooms decreased the number of referrals to the office for fights, bullying, and theft. I believe we should step back and make “dressing out” for Health and PE (HPE) optional in all schools. Athleisure clothing is worn to school more often these days and the kids can simply change their t-shirt after HPE if they sweat during class. This guideline has is in place in many school divisions after COVID guidelines were relaxed but not everywhere. I think we should re-examine why we moved backward to doing "what we always have always done". Participation has increased in HPE with student choice and more instructional time has been the result. Many HPE classes begin with a check-in and include topics related to safety, stress, kindness, and communication, to name a few. HPE is a course where the teachers include goal setting and the components of the Profile of a Virginia Graduate daily. These are important skills for all students.

As far as the inclusion of transgender students in athletics is concerned, the Virginia High School League abides by state policy that aligns with the NCAA.

I obviously don’t have all the answers, but I do think it’s time we focused on what is best for all students. We do not need to sort and put kids in boxes. One size does not fit all, as I think we can all agree. Sometimes, we adults create barriers where barriers don’t need to be.

CommentID: 195640