Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Education
 
Board
State Board of Education
 
Guidance Document Change: The Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia’s Public Schools guidance document was developed in response to House Bill 145 and Senate Bill 161, enacted by the 2020 Virginia General Assembly, which directed the Virginia Department of Education to develop and make available to each school board model policies concerning the treatment of transgender students in public elementary and secondary schools. These guidelines address common issues regarding transgender students in accordance with evidence-based best practices and include information, guidance, procedures, and standards relating to: compliance with applicable nondiscrimination laws; maintenance of a safe and supportive learning environment free from discrimination and harassment for all students; prevention of and response to bullying and harassment; maintenance of student records; identification of students; protection of student privacy and the confidentiality of sensitive information; enforcement of sex-based dress codes; and student participation in sex-specific school activities, events, and use of school facilities.
Previous Comment     Next Comment     Back to List of Comments
2/3/21  7:08 pm
Commenter: Marty McClevey

I oppose this policy (provisions for counselling, safety, hypocrisy).
 

This policy will not alleviate nor resolve their fears, depression or confusion (p.9 P13) as brought on and manifest due to their chosen new identity.  This policy lacks any provision for counselling youth (nor their parents) who choose not to walk out a life of gender confusion.  It provides safety for transgender students at the expense of the safety, security, privacy and wellbeing of female students who are an equally vulnerable population (p.8 P14, p.17 Access to Facilities P1).  This policy negates and strips parents of their influence in the shaping and nurturing of their children while mandating that this shaping take place in a public, governmental controlled environment (p.13 P1 abuse, neglect).  It is already mandatory that abuse be reported by staff, but to be compelled to report parents because of their "lack of support at home" (p.13) is a very grey area and cause for alarm.  This policy violates the premise that textbook learning is based upon factual physical, biological and social science (p.6 Terminology-Sex Assignment- presumed to be male at birth).  To perpetuate what is known to be false information (p.12, p.6 Terminology) and to indoctrinate children into a preferred ideology (p.8 Guiding Principles-Cisgender binary) is hypocrisy at its best.  This policy is proposed as a means of providing a safe learning environment for transgender students, but its sole purpose is to mandate an ideology for those students deemed to be in need of a transformation of their thinking.  Transgender students need our support and love in the form of counselling and therapy to bring them to a better and more satisfying place not a policy which enables their confused behavior. 

CommentID: 96165