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
1/5/21  1:27 pm
Commenter: Gloria George

Policy in Violation of Federal & State requirements (Security issues for ALL)
 

Federal and State laws have enrollment requirements for ALL Public School Safety and Security.  More oversight and audits are needed to ensure Public Schools are complying with Parents enrolling students.  

  • proper federal and state documents as to WHO is enrolling in school
  • medical records indicating WHO is enrolling in school

recommend removing vague statements below that DO NOT comply with public school enrollment requirements that provide safety and security in the schools.

There should not be a Policy for "claiming identity" - poses a great security threat to ALL.  Every public school must have legally attending and accountable attendance of students and staff. 

Students will be allowed to claim to be either a biological male or female (or both, neither, or something else entirely) for any duration of time, without providing any evidence to a teacher or administrator, making it impossible for teachers to comply with these policies.

“A student is considered transgender if, at school, the student consistently asserts a gender identity different from the sex assigned at birth… it does not necessarily require any substantiating evidence nor any required minimum duration of expressed gender identity ...” (Recommended Standard, p.12) 

“Schools shall allow students to assert a name and gender pronouns that reflect their gender identity without any substantiating evidence.” (Draft Policy, p.13)

CommentID: 88314