Dear Governor Youngkin and VA Dept of Education Officials,

This public comment is a vote to reject the proposed 2022 Model Policies on the Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for All Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools. I recommend that all parties keep the 2021 policies in place until a better policy can be developed. I’m a born and raised Virginia resident. I am a nonprofit professional with 20 years of experience in education with seven of those years in direct service to middle and high school age youth.

I am deeply disappointed in the 2022 Model Policies document that has been produced by this administration. It pales in comparison to the thorough job completed by the 2021 document. The previous version share those who contributed to the project and that the diversity of voices represented. The proposal described that it was developed with teachers, administrators, students, parents, elected officials, social workers, counselors, and representatives of the LGBTQ+ community. They reviewed material and policies from other jurisdictions to get a sense of what might work in the Commonwealth and be in the best interests of LGBTQ+ students. While we all want what is best for all children, we cannot assume that all policies work for all children and that the voices of LGBTQ+ students and families need to be heard and considered when drafting policies that directly affect them. So, I would want to see more transparency as to the process of how the 2022 Model Policies were developed than simple statements like “in consultation with educational leaders within the Department and stakeholders throughout the Commonwealth” or reference to 9,000 comments without an analysis/breakdown of the distribution of comments by issue, etc.

The 2022 Model Policies only seem to focus on the rights of parents and not the rights of students. In my life and in my career, I have seen the parents give their all to do all they can for the children. So, I would not wholly dispute the statement that parents want what’s best for their children. However, in my career I have worked with students who have been significantly harmed by their parents. And so, I take issue with a document that puts so much emphasis on parent’s rights with no counterbalance. Especially, when you consider the statistic that “14% of LGBTQ youth reported that they had slept away from parents or caregivers because they were kicked out or abandoned, with 40% reporting that they were kicked out or abandoned due to their LGBTQ identity.”* So we do have to sometimes keep young people safe from their own parents.

So, I would be interested to know and understand in what way do parents feel that the 2021 Model Policies doesn't empower them? I would say we answer that before we re-write the whole document. I would recommend instead that the administration revisit the 2021 Model Policies and see where parent voices can be strengthened. While I have not worked with a K-5 population, perhaps a compromise of the document can be drawn around age-appropriate settings (K-5, Middle, High) or by age.

Again, from an educator and Virginia resident whose only recently compared these two versions, it is clear that the 2021 Model policy is comprehensive, well-researched and weighs multiple voices. So much so that the 2022 Model Policy is disappointing by comparison. However, I don’t want to discount voices who may want to see policies improved. So I restate my position that the 2022 Model Policies be rejected in their current format, allow the 2021 Model Policies to stand and that the administration spend more time on putting forward a new policy that can work for all students and families in the Commonwealth.

Thank you. Sincerely, a Virginia Resident.

*source: DeChants, J.P., Green, A.E., Price, M.N, & Davis, C.K. (2021). Homelessness and Housing Instability Among LGBTQ Youth. West Hollywood, CA: The Trevor Project.