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
1/9/21  1:10 pm
Commenter: James Casey

Oppose As Being Clearly Unconstitutional on Several Fronts
 

This proposal is beyond misguided, because it is inherently unconstitutional on a number of grounds.  Hence, it will result in an unsuccessful and wasteful struggle within court systems, which should be utilized for real issues, not agenda-driven and hypothetical issues. 

It would violate and interfere with : [1] parental rights in raising and educating children on innate matters pertaining to sexuality and sexual identity; [2] the privacy rights of parents in implementing [1]; [3] the privacy rights of the children themselves in their self-awareness of their sexual identities; [4] the privacy rights of children in avoiding exposure to members of the opposite sex while undressed; [5] the rights of children to be educated solely in matters that pertain to academic matters, which exclude hypothetical matters about which there is a huge amount of academic disagreement and which is contrary to the teachings of most of the mainstream religions within the USA; and [6] it would expose children to concepts and theories about which they unequipped to fairly apply mature examination and assessment.

 

 

CommentID: 89252