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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2/3/21  9:46 pm
Commenter: Shannon Stoner

Strongly support
 

The amount of ignorance and hate in these comments is vile. 

As the parent of a trans person, it is heartbreaking to watch your child deal with the extra weight and negativity they must wade through, on top of the normal confusion and hurt one can experience being a child/ teen. All because of misinformation and sheer unwillingness to better educate yourselves and your own children. Being trans/ LGBTQ+ isn’t something that should carry the negative assumptions many people place on that title. After all, it’s a title. These children/ teens are still just children and teens, who are going through the same black box you went through as a kid, and that your kids and grandkids are going through now, only magnified.

Any resources to make school more accessible and safer for our students are appreciated, but action is needed to ensure that ALL students have a safe, constructive, and nurturing environment on the classroom.
We have to do more to deconstruct the institutional barriers we have long propped up against the LGBTQIA+ community.

CommentID: 96699