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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1/5/21  1:09 pm
Commenter: Mike, Educational Professional

This proposal promotes inequality - please ammend
 

Under the heading "Student Identification" the second paragraph begins, "When a student asserts that they have a name and/or pronoun affirming their gender identity, school staff should abide by the student’s wishes as to how to address the student."  This needs to be expanded to include additional support for child and community development!

Examples include:

"When a parent asserts that they have a parental philosophy affirming their child's gender identity, school staff should abide by the parent’s wishes as to how to educate that child."

"When a community asserts that they have an education philosophy affirming a student's gender identity, school boards should abide by the community’s wishes as to how to educate that child."

"When a school board asserts that they have an educational philosophy affirming a student's gender identity, VDOE should abide by the school board's wishes as to how to educate for that child."

I believe we have turned this predicament on its head and fear that we will lead more gender nonconforming youth into disillusionment and despair by this anti-community approach.

CommentID: 88305