Youngkin Transgender Student Policies Draws Response From FCCPS

FALLS CHURCH, VA — Proposed model policies affecting transgender students rights from Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin's administration have drawn a response from Falls Church City Public Schools leaders.

The new model policies, released Friday, 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.

In a letter to families, School Board Chair Laura Downs and Superintendent Peter Noonan reaffirmed support for transgender students. The officials said FCCPS follows the Virginia Human Rights Act, which outlines protections from discrimination, and Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board, where a transgender student won the case against a school board that barred him from using the boy's bathrooms.

"The FCCPS School Board wants to assure our community that we value and support every student in our charge," Downs and Noonan wrote. "We have codified our stance with respect to nondiscrimination and anti-harassment in numerous School Board policies, including Policy AB - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Policy AC - Nondiscrimination, and will continue to ensure that all students are treated with dignity and respect in our schools."

Officials said FCCPS is analyzing the model policies and its 30-day public comment period, which begins Sept. 26.