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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1/4/21  11:30 pm
Commenter: Dr. Dawkins

I do not approve of the radical proposed Transgender guidelines
 

The proposed transgender policies are untenable. There are no real boundaries and will make it easier to offend a student at the whim of what they choose to be that day. And ALL counseling to encourage this behavior or medical procedures/medications/hormone treatments must be revealed to the parents. The Virginia government should not be responsible for the costs of these procedures that have shown in many European studies to cause permanent mental damage to those that undergo this methodology. Parents need to know so that they can monitor their child's health. Family members could sue for damages, also. There are SO many repercussions of 1. not telling the parents 2. mental stability of the students 3. jeopardy that the teachers may lose their jobs if they offend a student just because they don't know how the student wishes to be addressed from one day to the next and 4. anyone can use whatever bathroom or locker room they feel like for the day which makes some young women and young men feel unsafe and violated.

There are so many chances for teachers, schools, and DOE being sued by the students, parents, or other family members by this vaguely worded "treatment of transgender students.". This policy would also violate the first amendment if a teacher or another student has a religious belief that this type of behavior is wrong and has to comply with this policy.

I highly recommend that this proposal does not become permanent. 

CommentID: 88054