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.
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2/3/21  10:51 am
Commenter: Rebecca Whitten, student

Strongly support!!
 

I’m a student, and I have many trans/non-binary friends and classmates. There is no form of harm going from trans students to via students in any way. The only harm is going to trans students from their cis counterparts. Did you know that not a single instance has been recorded where a cis person was assaulted in a bathroom by a trans person, but there have been many cases where the opposite has happened?? What needs to happen is we need to create a strong system of support and protection for trans students as they navigate the difficulties of not only school and adolescence, but also the difficult internal and external struggle of coming to terms with your identity and beginning to outwardly display it. 

 

I beg you all, have empathy. Have empathy to the teenagers who may live in a household that is emotionally and/or physically violent to them, and to whom a supportive school environment could quite literally be a matter of life and death. The suicide rate of trans kids with supportive families vs unsupportive families is magnitudes different. 

 

This matters. 

CommentID: 95126