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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9/26/22  9:01 am
Commenter: Lorraine Dresch, Waynesboro Public Schools

Strongly OPPOSE New Model Policies
 

I am a representative of the Waynesboro High School Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, a group of educators dedicated to making the school a safe and welcoming environment for students of historically-marginalized backgrounds.  

I would like to raise serious concerns regarding these model policies. 

At WHS, there are approximately 90 transgender and gender-expansive students. These policies would directly negatively impact their daily lives by denying them the ability to safely express themselves and be affirmed for who they are. These students are deserving of protection and support.

The suicide rate for transgender youth is already extremely high. 52% of trans youth seriously considered suicide, while 21% attempted suicide in the past year. This problem is preventable, but the new model policies would exacerbate the issue by denying students life-saving social transitions at school. The Trevor Project explains that “transgender and nonbinary youth who reported having pronouns respected by all or most people in their lives attempted suicide at half the rate of those who did not have their pronouns respected.” This statistic shows that honoring students’ chosen names and pronouns is a crucial form of suicide prevention. 

Moreover, as much as we would like to imagine that all parents are supportive of their children no matter their gender identity, educators see that this is unfortunately not the case: Transgender youth are at a higher risk of experiencing homelessness, in part because they are often kicked out of their homes or abandoned by caregivers due to their trans identity. The Trevor Project states that “38% of transgender girls/women, 39% of transgender boys/men, and 35% of nonbinary youth reported housing instability and homelessness.” By requiring educators such as teachers and guidance counselors to automatically inform parents of their child’s transgender identity if the student comes out at school, the state puts young people in a position where they must either suppress their identities entirely or risk the roof over their heads. 

In summary, these new policies would in reality deny students the privacy, dignity, and respect they deserve. Schools have an important role in supporting the mental health and safety of their transgender and nonbinary students. As an educator dedicated to creating learning environments where everyone can thrive, I urge you to reject or at the very least substantially revise these model policies to protect trans youth. 

Sincerely,

Lorraine Dresch, Waynesboro High School Teacher

https://www.thetrevorproject.org/survey-2020/?section=Introduction 

https://www.thetrevorproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Trevor-Project-Homelessness-Report.pdf

CommentID: 129057