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  1:12 pm
Commenter: Avi

Youngkin/School board SUED OVER SUICIDE due to inaccurate gender identity reporting
 

This headline is entirely possible, and in fact statistically probable.  

Even if accurately reported, the fact that proposed practices go directly against the advice of nationally and internationally renowned pediatric/scientific bodies leaves little legal footing.  The proposed policy lacks the fundamental understanding, long-term planning, education and medical/scientific support to avoid devastating physical and psychological consequences for the individual, the family, the school and the community.  

With NO Plan to determine the accuracy and good-faith of reports (rumors, mishearing/understandings, teenage angst “revenge reporting”, etc) prior to parental communication, the school is at the mercy of the adolescent “rumor mill”.  Are we saying that identifying as Trans is equivalent to being “a danger to oneself or others”?  If not, it does not fall within the mandatory reporting guidelines.   

Self-exploration has been a teenager’s job and right of passage since the dawn of time. Providing support requires (1) education, (2) unbiased receptive listening, and (3) the knowledge that the assumed “support systems” are in fact safe supportive and educated on the matter, which is not always -and for trans kids often not the case.  Forced reporting/outing will/has historically resulted in increased secrecy and mistrust of faculty and otherwise trusted adults, leading to increased needs for but fear of asking for mental health outreach and as a result, self harm and suicide attempts/completions.  It’s not being trans that makes a person depressed, it’s trying to survive in unaccepting environments that leads to psychological distress.  Children know their family’s religious and political beliefs; if they felt safe coming out at home, they would have. 

The increased-marginalization plan has never worked at bringing stability and communities together. Only raised awareness, education and dialogue have been proven successful. 

I hope to never see the Subject line as a newspaper headline.  Please stop using our children as political pawns. 

With hope,
Avi 

 

CommentID: 198894