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Virginia issues new guidelines that roll back transgender student rights
Hat tip, WTOP
Still no press release from Youngkin's office on this big Friday news even though friendly conservative outlets had stories up around noon.
virginiamercury.com
Youngkin administration overhauls Virginia transgender student policies - Virginia Mercury
Youngkin’s administration quietly released a document Friday overhauling Virginia’s policy on the treatment of transgender students, citing “parental
Youngkin administration overhauls Virginia transgender student policies - Virginia Mercury
Youngkin’s administration quietly released a document Friday overhauling Virginia’s policy on the treatment of transgender students, citing “parental
Link to tweet
EDUCATION
Youngkin administration overhauls Virginia transgender student policies
BY: NATHANIEL CLINE AND SARAH VOGELSONG - SEPTEMBER 16, 2022 6:54 PM
Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration quietly released a document Friday overhauling Virginia’s policy on the treatment of transgender students, citing “parental rights.” ... The “Model Policies on the Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for all Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools” published by the Virginia Department of Education will direct local school boards to adopt a slate of new policies for the treatment of transgender students that represent a sharp reversal from the stance the state took under former Gov. Ralph Northam and a Democrat-dominated legislature.
While Friday’s guidance notes that “schools should attempt to accommodate students with distinctive needs, including any student with a persistent and sincere belief that his or her gender differs from his or her sex,” it also emphasizes what it describes as parents’ “fundamental rights.” ... The new policies require parental approval for any changes to students’ “names, nicknames, and/or pronouns,” direct schools to keep parents “informed about their children’s well-being,” specify that student participation in activities and athletics shall be based on sex and state that “students shall use bathrooms that correspond to his or her sex, except to the extent that federal law otherwise requires.”
“The First Amendment forbids government actors to require individuals to adhere to or adopt any particular ideological beliefs,” the new guidance reads. “Practices such as compelling others to use preferred pronouns is premised on the ideological belief that gender is a matter of personal choice or subjective experience, not sex. Many Virginians reject this belief.” ... Furthermore, the policy continues, “the First Amendment guarantees religious freedom and prohibits compelling others to affirm ideas that may be contrary to their personal religious beliefs.”
A 30-day public comment period on the policies is expected to open Sept. 26, after which they will go into effect. ... The new policies overturn guidance laid out by a Democrat-backed 2020 law that required school districts to uphold student privacy about their transgender status, use pronouns and names requested by students and allow students to use restrooms and locker rooms that aligned with their gender identity. ... The model policies developed as a result of the 2020 law got a mixed reception from school districts, many of which refused to formally adopt them.
{snip}
NATHANIEL CLINE
ncline@virginiamercury.com
https://twitter.com/nathanielcline
Nathaniel is an award-winning journalist who's been covering news across the country since 2007, including politics at The Loudoun Times-Mirror and The Northern Neck News in Virginia as well as sports for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio. He has also hosted podcasts, worked as a television analyst for Spectrum Sports, and appeared as a panelist for conferences and educational programs. A graduate of Bowie State University, Nathaniel grew up in Hawaii and the United Kingdom as a military brat. Five things he must have before leaving home: his cellphone, Black Panther water bottle, hand sanitizer, wedding ring and Philadelphia Eagles keychain.
SARAH VOGELSONG
svogelsong@virginiamercury.com
https://twitter.com/SarahVogelsong
Sarah is Editor-in-Chief of the Mercury and previously its environment and energy reporter. She has worked for multiple Virginia and regional publications, including Chesapeake Bay Journal, The Progress-Index and The Caroline Progress. Her reporting has won awards from groups such as the Society of Environmental Journalists and Virginia Press Association, and she is an alumna of the Columbia Energy Journalism Initiative and Metcalf Institute Science Immersion Workshop for Journalists. She is a graduate of the College of William and Mary. Contact her at svogelsong@virginiamercury.com
Youngkin administration overhauls Virginia transgender student policies
BY: NATHANIEL CLINE AND SARAH VOGELSONG - SEPTEMBER 16, 2022 6:54 PM
Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration quietly released a document Friday overhauling Virginia’s policy on the treatment of transgender students, citing “parental rights.” ... The “Model Policies on the Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for all Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools” published by the Virginia Department of Education will direct local school boards to adopt a slate of new policies for the treatment of transgender students that represent a sharp reversal from the stance the state took under former Gov. Ralph Northam and a Democrat-dominated legislature.
While Friday’s guidance notes that “schools should attempt to accommodate students with distinctive needs, including any student with a persistent and sincere belief that his or her gender differs from his or her sex,” it also emphasizes what it describes as parents’ “fundamental rights.” ... The new policies require parental approval for any changes to students’ “names, nicknames, and/or pronouns,” direct schools to keep parents “informed about their children’s well-being,” specify that student participation in activities and athletics shall be based on sex and state that “students shall use bathrooms that correspond to his or her sex, except to the extent that federal law otherwise requires.”
“The First Amendment forbids government actors to require individuals to adhere to or adopt any particular ideological beliefs,” the new guidance reads. “Practices such as compelling others to use preferred pronouns is premised on the ideological belief that gender is a matter of personal choice or subjective experience, not sex. Many Virginians reject this belief.” ... Furthermore, the policy continues, “the First Amendment guarantees religious freedom and prohibits compelling others to affirm ideas that may be contrary to their personal religious beliefs.”
A 30-day public comment period on the policies is expected to open Sept. 26, after which they will go into effect. ... The new policies overturn guidance laid out by a Democrat-backed 2020 law that required school districts to uphold student privacy about their transgender status, use pronouns and names requested by students and allow students to use restrooms and locker rooms that aligned with their gender identity. ... The model policies developed as a result of the 2020 law got a mixed reception from school districts, many of which refused to formally adopt them.
{snip}
NATHANIEL CLINE
ncline@virginiamercury.com
https://twitter.com/nathanielcline
Nathaniel is an award-winning journalist who's been covering news across the country since 2007, including politics at The Loudoun Times-Mirror and The Northern Neck News in Virginia as well as sports for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio. He has also hosted podcasts, worked as a television analyst for Spectrum Sports, and appeared as a panelist for conferences and educational programs. A graduate of Bowie State University, Nathaniel grew up in Hawaii and the United Kingdom as a military brat. Five things he must have before leaving home: his cellphone, Black Panther water bottle, hand sanitizer, wedding ring and Philadelphia Eagles keychain.
SARAH VOGELSONG
svogelsong@virginiamercury.com
https://twitter.com/SarahVogelsong
Sarah is Editor-in-Chief of the Mercury and previously its environment and energy reporter. She has worked for multiple Virginia and regional publications, including Chesapeake Bay Journal, The Progress-Index and The Caroline Progress. Her reporting has won awards from groups such as the Society of Environmental Journalists and Virginia Press Association, and she is an alumna of the Columbia Energy Journalism Initiative and Metcalf Institute Science Immersion Workshop for Journalists. She is a graduate of the College of William and Mary. Contact her at svogelsong@virginiamercury.com
Home » Virginia News » Virginia issues new guidelines…
Virginia issues new guidelines that roll back transgender student rights
Abigail Constantino | aconstantino@wtop.com
September 17, 2022, 12:44 AM
Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration on Friday night released policies that roll back LGBTQ students’ rights in Virginia schools. ... First reported by The Washington Post, the “2022 Model Policies” will require that students use facilities and programs that “match the sex they were assigned at birth,” and require parental permission to change their names and genders at school.
The Virginia Department of Education reviewed the previous “model policies” adopted during former Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration, and alleged that the policies promoted a “specific viewpoint aimed at achieving cultural and social transformation in schools” and disregarded parents’ rights, as well as “legal and constitutional principles.”
“With the publication of these 2022 Model Policies on the Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for All Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools (the ‘2022 Model Policies’), the Department hereby withdraws the 2021 Model Policies, which shall have no further force and effect,” the Department of Education document said.
{snip}
Each school board must adopt policies consistent with the 2022 Model Policies. Public comment on the draft model policies will open later this month on the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall’s website.
Abigail Constantino
Abigail Constantino started her journalism career writing for a local newspaper in Fairfax County, Virginia. She is a graduate of American University and The George Washington University.
aconstantino@wtop.com
Virginia issues new guidelines that roll back transgender student rights
Abigail Constantino | aconstantino@wtop.com
September 17, 2022, 12:44 AM
Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration on Friday night released policies that roll back LGBTQ students’ rights in Virginia schools. ... First reported by The Washington Post, the “2022 Model Policies” will require that students use facilities and programs that “match the sex they were assigned at birth,” and require parental permission to change their names and genders at school.
The Virginia Department of Education reviewed the previous “model policies” adopted during former Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration, and alleged that the policies promoted a “specific viewpoint aimed at achieving cultural and social transformation in schools” and disregarded parents’ rights, as well as “legal and constitutional principles.”
“With the publication of these 2022 Model Policies on the Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for All Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools (the ‘2022 Model Policies’), the Department hereby withdraws the 2021 Model Policies, which shall have no further force and effect,” the Department of Education document said.
{snip}
Each school board must adopt policies consistent with the 2022 Model Policies. Public comment on the draft model policies will open later this month on the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall’s website.
Abigail Constantino
Abigail Constantino started her journalism career writing for a local newspaper in Fairfax County, Virginia. She is a graduate of American University and The George Washington University.
aconstantino@wtop.com
LOCAL EDUCATION
Virginia will block schools from accommodating transgender students
By Hannah Natanson
September 16, 2022 at 10:06 p.m. EDT
In a major rollback of LGBTQ rights, the administration of Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) will require that transgender students in Virginia access school facilities and programs that match the sex they were assigned at birth and is making it more difficult for students to change their names and genders at school.
Under new “model policies” for schools’ treatment of transgender students released Friday evening, the Department of Education is requiring that families submit legal documentation to earn their children the right to change names and genders at school. The guidelines also say teachers cannot be compelled to refer to transgender students by their names and genders if it goes against “their constitutionally protected” free speech rights.
And the guidelines say schools cannot “encourage or instruct teachers to conceal material information about a student from the student’s parent, including information related to gender” — raising the prospect that teachers could be forced to out transgender students to their parents. ... School districts must adopt the new state guidelines or “policies that are more comprehensive,” after a 30-day comment period that will begin on Sept. 26, the Education Department said. The Board of Education will not have to vote to adopt the policies.
“These 2022 Model Policies reflect the Department’s confidence in parents to prudently exercise their fundamental right under the Fourteenth Amendment and the Virginia Constitution to direct the upbringing, education, and control of their children,” the guidelines state. “This primary role of parents is well established and beyond debate. Empowering parents is essential to improving outcomes for children.”
{snip}
Laura Vozzella contributed to this report.
By Hannah Natanson
Hannah Natanson is a Washington Post reporter covering education and K-12 schools in Virginia. Twitter https://twitter.com/hannah_natanson
Virginia will block schools from accommodating transgender students
By Hannah Natanson
September 16, 2022 at 10:06 p.m. EDT
In a major rollback of LGBTQ rights, the administration of Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) will require that transgender students in Virginia access school facilities and programs that match the sex they were assigned at birth and is making it more difficult for students to change their names and genders at school.
Under new “model policies” for schools’ treatment of transgender students released Friday evening, the Department of Education is requiring that families submit legal documentation to earn their children the right to change names and genders at school. The guidelines also say teachers cannot be compelled to refer to transgender students by their names and genders if it goes against “their constitutionally protected” free speech rights.
And the guidelines say schools cannot “encourage or instruct teachers to conceal material information about a student from the student’s parent, including information related to gender” — raising the prospect that teachers could be forced to out transgender students to their parents. ... School districts must adopt the new state guidelines or “policies that are more comprehensive,” after a 30-day comment period that will begin on Sept. 26, the Education Department said. The Board of Education will not have to vote to adopt the policies.
“These 2022 Model Policies reflect the Department’s confidence in parents to prudently exercise their fundamental right under the Fourteenth Amendment and the Virginia Constitution to direct the upbringing, education, and control of their children,” the guidelines state. “This primary role of parents is well established and beyond debate. Empowering parents is essential to improving outcomes for children.”
{snip}
Laura Vozzella contributed to this report.
By Hannah Natanson
Hannah Natanson is a Washington Post reporter covering education and K-12 schools in Virginia. Twitter https://twitter.com/hannah_natanson
