Transgender Model Policies Opposed By Falls Church School Board

FALLS CHURCH, VA — Just before the public comment period ended on the model policies affecting transgender student rights, the Falls Church City School Board approved comments in opposition to the state.

The proposed model policies, released by Gov. Glenn Youngkin's Virginia Department of Education in mid-September, include requiring transgender students to use school bathrooms and locker rooms matching the sex they were assigned at birth. In addition, school districts could only change a student's legal name or sex if a parent or eligible student submits a legal document like state identification. School personnel would only call students by the name and pronouns on their official record.

If the model policies take effect, local school boards would have to adopt policies following the state's guidelines.

The Falls Church City School Board's comments provide a more detailed response than the initial statement about the model policies from the School Board and Superintendent Peter Noonan. The initial statement had reaffirming Falls Church City Schools' support for transgender students and said officials were reviewing the model policies.

The comments sent to the Virginia Department of Education say the Falls Church School Board doesn't support the model policies because "the model policies put school districts and parents in opposition; the model policies take too narrow a view of gender to be useful in protecting transgender students; and the model policies would cause harm to transgender, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary students."

School Board representative David Ortiz drafted the comments on behalf of the board.

"If there's an opportunity for us to provide public comments, we probably have an obligation to do so if we think it's an issue that merits a comment," said Ortiz. "I think also we heard very impassioned comments at our last School Board meeting on this issue from parents and also from teachers and students."

Instead of the model policies, the School Board recommended each school district submit a report to the Virginia Department of Education on how its policies and regulations support transgender students and involve parents in the policymaking process.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors also voted Tuesday to submit comments opposing the model policies.

Over 71,000 comments have been submitted statewide on the proposed model policies through the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall. The public comment period that started Sept. 26 ended on Wednesday, Oct. 26.

Read the Falls Church City School Board's full comments on the model policies here.