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
1/16/21  1:34 am
Commenter: Anonymous

Proceed with caution
 

The vagueness of this makes me wary. Of course children shouldn’t be bullied by other children or, worse, their peers parents who seem to have overtaken this forum. However, there are legitimate concerns (that even the Olympic Committee has not been able to resolve) on transgender athletes. As more research is done, it is being realized that those born of the male sex, even after taking testosterone blockers, still maintain a significant athletic advantage based on their bone size and density, hearts ability to pump more blood, larger capillaries, etc. that testosterone blockers don’t change. This not only opens the door to unsafe sports for cis females playing in what should be clearly stated as sex protected divisions (not gender identity divisions) it also takes away from the chances of someone of the female sex from getting fair scholarships. However, when a female takes testosterone (ie steroids) those are performance enhancing drugs. Since this is such a big issue to make it to this level of interest- I recommend creating new divisions of sports specific to transgender athletes. Otherwise, good for VA for looking out for these children for bullying aspects. Though I would never encourage my child to pursue transgender curiosity, I am not the parent of other children and at the end of the day the schools can’t force children or their parents to block transitions but it can also take an equal stance in protecting children who do not identify as transgender as it does the children who do.

CommentID: 90329