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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1/8/21  11:54 am
Commenter: Laura M

Why this? Why now?
 

Why is this a priority item for the education department?  There are so many bigger issues to focus on, specifically education itself.  With over 300 days since our children have been in a physical school building, they are falling behind.  This issue is not a priority and frankly needs to be discussed when we can debate this in person due to the many flaws in your assessment.

Parents will not be notified that their child is being interrogated by school officials for allegedly violating these policies, or have the opportunity to intervene on their child’s behalf, UNLESS the complaints are not resolved “at the school level.” 

Parents wouldn't be notified?  How is it possible that LEGAL GUARDIANS wouldn't be notified about an issue that pertains to their children? If students are allowed to claim to be either a biological male or female (or both, neither, or something else entirely) for any duration of time, without providing any evidence to a teacher or administrator, how do the teacher comply?  How will you keep our children safe?  If a biological male claims to identify as female and has full access to bathrooms and locker rooms, how are you protecting biological females and giving THEM a choice on whether or not they want a boy in their locker room?

You are proposing big changes that would negatively impact the majority of your student population for a small group of people.  Why not make individual exceptions for this small minority, rather than force all students, faculty and administrators to comply with an empirically debatable view of sex and gender, especially if it directly conflicts with their own fundamental beliefs. 

CommentID: 88878