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  5:05 pm
Commenter: He She Ze and We

Protect Transgender Students! WE STRONGLY OPPOSE 2022 proposed policies!
 

Our organization has been working with families of transgender and nonbinary youth for over a decade. Family support is the number one protective factor for transgender youth. Fewer than 1 in 3 transgender and nonbinary youth found their home to be gender affirming. (thetrevorproject.org) It will be dangerous for many students to notify the parent/guardian about their gender identity without their permission. 

It often takes time for a family to accept their child's gender diversity. It is sometimes a slow process in which they need time to seek quality resources and learn how to be supportive. When pronouns are respected and used, suicide rates are drastically reduced. Depression symptoms are reduced by 71% and thoughts of suicide are reduced by 34% (thetrevorproject.org). Just one truly supportive adult in a trans person's life can reduce self harm and thoughts of suicide. That one adult might be a trusted teacher or a school counselor. 

If the proposed policies were truly about parental rights, then the rights of transgender and nonbinary students' parents would be respected. No one in any school (students, teachers, administrators, or community members) would be allowed to refuse to use a trans student's name and pronouns based on their own belief system. Instead, the school would require everyone to respectfully recognize each person in the manner they prefer, provide sensitivity/diversity training to overcome personal biases, and learn how to create a school climate that is welcoming to everyone. A sense of belonging, being addresses properly, having access to facilities and activities, and learning in an environment that is free from bullying and harassment is a right all students deserve. ALL Students needs to Include Trans Students. This policy takes away basic respect and dignity from transgender and nonbinary students and puts them in harms way.

Superintendent Balow, rescind the proposed 2022 model policies and maintain and urge VA Public School districts to adopt and follow the current model policies which actual protect transgender and nonbinary students. When all students do well...all students do well. 

Suggested resource: Transgender Students in School Bathrooms and Schools in Transition are excellent comprehensive resources that can help all schools know how to implement the 2021 model policies. Each school can learn how to create a positive school climate, methods of supervision, and behavior expectations that will support all students. 

Trans students have always existed. Trans students' rights should not be up for debate. 

He She Ze and We, a 501(c)(3) organization in Virginia, proudly empowering families on the journey of gender identity through support, education, and advocacy. 

 

 

 

CommentID: 200175