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  11:17 pm
Commenter: Angie McClevey

SAFETY? SUPPORT? SECRECY? EVIDENCE-BASED?? LEGAL???
 

FAPE. SAFETY. Both are covered under federal, state and local laws and codes.  

What this policy attempts to do is rip out the foundation of support that innocent little children need to thrive safely while accessing an education.  Instead of receiving support for their well being and protection of their safety so that they may focus on learning while in school children will live in mortal fear of exposure.  This policy isolates, disenfranchises and condemns students of all persuasions!  It discards sage wisdom that says protect the children and guard their innocence, and it promotes secrecy in all the wrong ways.  Hidden lies are rampant throughout.  This "policy" is feel-ism run amuck, and runs wild with insanity. When children should be able to expect sound guidance and stalwart protection from the adults in their schools they will be getting sold for 30 pieces of silver: each and every one of them.

While raising my now adult son who has ASD among other disabilities I never once allowed him the excuse of "disABILITY" as free pass to trample on the rights of others.  I taught him to respect others; even those who were different from him.  When fear and anxiety darken his perspective it has always been my responsibility as his parent (and now legal guardian) to support him, to guide him and to keep him safe: and to do this all while respecting the rights of those around him.  Never an easy day. I spent all of his 18 years in Virginia public schools advocating for his SAFETY while he accessed a FREE and APPROPRIATE PUBLIC EDUCATION.  Never once did I seek to infringe on another child's safety.  That would have been ethically wrong.  So is this policy.  

It is not appropriate to exclude the rights of one group of students under the guise of protecting those of another.  SAFE schools protect the rights of every student without exclusions.  This proposed policy tramples on the rights of a little girl to access the restroom in her school with complete privacy and without fear of being exposed personally and exposed to male anatomy.  Additionally it give boys of all ages a free ticket to voyeurism; TOTALLY ILLEGAL.  

Evidence-based studies are no where noted in this document either in the references to best practices or the appendix.  Lots of surveys and opinions and especially ideologies.  Oh and so many incongruencies; too many to point out.  Overall this proposed policy is not worthy of anything but rejection.

 

CommentID: 97021