Virginia Department of Education releases new guidance for transgender students

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) – The Virginia Department of Education released new guidance on policies concerning the treatment of transgender and nonbinary students in the state’s public schools.

The state department released “Model Policies to Ensure Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for All Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools” on Tuesday, ultimately giving parents more say and involvement in their child’s school experience.

“These policies clarify that parents are the appropriate decision-makers regarding their child’s health and wellbeing, and that students are best served when parents, teachers, and school administrators work as a team to support a child’s education, wrote Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera in a press release. “They also affirm that discrimination and bullying of any kind will not be tolerated in Virginia’s public schools.”

The VDOE stated school officials will defer to parents in decisions about a child’s identity and keep parents informed about the well-being of the child.

“There are no improvements to this policy that would benefit trans and nonbinary students or benefit their supportive parents,” said Narissa Rahaman with Equality Virginia.

Many LGBTQ+ advocacy groups feel their concerns were never heard when it comes to the treatment of transgender and nonbinary students in Virginia’s public schools when the policies were under review for several months.

“The governor claims to be for gender and nonbinary youth, but again we received no outreach from the administration on our thoughts on the policy,” Rahaman said.

Governor Glenn Youngkin supported the updated policies and provided this statement:

It’s something conservative lawmakers and advocacy groups agree with.

“We believe these policies put parents in the driver’s seat; they assert their privacy over the decision-making when it comes to their children with regards to their health and education, and also try to respect the bodily privacy and safety of students within the school,” said Todd Gathje with the Family Foundation.

While the policies are similar to what was established last year, there are some changes, including an opt-out policy for bathrooms and locker rooms.

“In a school that allows for gender-neutral bathrooms, it gives the parents an opportunity to opt their child out to make sure that they have access to proper accommodations to a single stall or single occupancy bathroom,” Gathje said.

The policies also require students under the age of 18 to be referred to by the pronouns and name in their school record unless parents have told the school division in writing if other pronouns should be used.

“Eligible students,” those over the age of 18 or emancipated minors, can also state in writing that they are a different gender.

The policies also give parents the opportunity to object to school counseling services when it pertains to gender.

“They still prohibit school districts from protecting against forced outing to their parents when they may not be ready for their parents to know and when it may not be safe,” said Wyatt Rolla with Virginia ACLU.

The updated policies will require transgender students to use the bathroom of their biological sex unless federal law says otherwise. It also says that other options should be provided to students that are uncomfortable with using a restroom with someone who identifies as transgender.

The model policies also enforce sex-based dress codes and student participation in sex-specific school activities and events. VDOE says that “transgender student” means a “public school student whose parent has stated in writing that the student’s gender differs from the student’s sex.”

The new guidelines also cover bullying, requiring schools to inform parents of bullying incidents within 24 hours. The policies cite the state’s “safe harbor” statute, which protects against disclosure of information that could put the child at risk.

While these policies have been rolled out, it is still up to each school board to decide how they are implemented locally.

Advocacy groups on both sides are asking parents to read up on the model policies and express their opinion to your school board.

“It’s really important that people educate themselves on exactly what these policies mean and all the advocacy tools that are still available for us to respond to these model policies,” Rolla said.

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