School Board Statement - October 5, 2022

School Board Statement on the Virginia Department of Education’s Revised Guidance for Transgender Students

October 5, 2022

Proposed State Policy Will Reduce Protections for Transgender and Gender-Expansive Students

We, the members of the Albemarle County School Board, respectfully but vigorously disagree with the Virginia Department of Education’s proposed 2022 “Model Policies on the Privacy, Dignity and Respect for All Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools.”

The proposed policies should more accurately be titled, “Model Policies on the Privacy, Dignity and Respect of Some Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools,” dismissive as it is of students who identify as transgender or gender-expansive. These policies would override the authority of local elected officials to support the values of the local communities they are elected to represent. Nowhere are those values more powerfully lived than in our public schools, where the strengths of a community come together, reflected in the diversity and inspiration of life experiences, cultures, dreams and talents we offer one another.

It is incumbent upon us to truly respect the dignity and humanity of all students, to foster the enrichment that the diversity of the life experiences of all students brings to our schools and communities, and to protect and provide for the healthy personal development of all students.

As public officials, we are called each day to empower all students to be the very best they can be, through the learning that takes place in the classroom, in the learning that flows from healthy and nurturing relationships, and in the values that bind a community in unified purpose.

It is in honest and collaborative partnerships with parents that the highest levels of individual and collective success are delivered. We always must seek out and benefit from parental engagement and join with families and highly credentialed professionals to achieve the best interests of a child’s safety, health, and personal development.

Wonderful would be a world in which family relationships are constructed upon irrevocable and enduring trust, care and support. We live, however, in the reality that some relationships are imperfect and even harmful, including, on occasion, relationships in our homes. Our response must be to honor personal choice, not the imposition of outside opinions that decide for a child in whom they are allowed to confide or from whom to seek healing.

Our existing policy to protect transgender and gender-expansive students is an inclusive model:

Schools must assess the needs of each student on a case-by-case basis. School administrators should discuss the needs and concerns of gender-expansive students with them and their families and apply the experiences and expertise of their colleagues as well as external resources when they are useful.

Our policy is consistent with the commitments we have made to every family and student in our strategic plan:

  • Equity: We will provide every student with the level of support necessary to thrive.
  • Excellence: We will mitigate barriers and provide opportunities for every student to be academically successful.
  • Family and Community: We will engage with and share the responsibility for student success with families and community partners.
  • Wellness: We will support the physical and emotional health of our students and staff.

We know from extensive data that, compared to their non-gender-expansive peers, gender-expansive youth are more likely to:

  • Miss school;
  • View their school climate negatively; and
  • Suffer greater risk of self-harm and suicidal ideation.

Schools, as caregivers, must not be limited in their ability to deliver care and support, no more so than they are restricted in their responsibility and obligation to recognize and end any abuse of a child, whether it occurs in the home or in a school.

Educators play an essential role in creating a supportive school culture and advocating for the safety and health of all students. Local communities, through their elected representatives, must create a culture and policies that respect and value all students.

The proposed policies unilaterally would usurp the ability of school boards to represent the physical, social and emotional health of those they are elected to serve. It would require adherence to the views of those dissociated from the local communities they seek to control, elevating the risk of harm to children in crisis.

The merit of locally-developed and approved policies is found in the reasonable balance struck by our policy. As an example, our schools will follow parental preference in the name by which their child is known, but parental approval beforehand is not mandated. We support safe, non-stigmatizing accommodations for any student who is uncomfortable sharing a sleeping area, shower, bathroom, or any sex-segregated facility with a transgender or gender-expansive student.

It will always be the responsibility and the privilege of Albemarle County Public Schools to maintain a safe and supportive school environment for all students, free from harassment, intimidation, and bullying and discrimination. And to do so with policies and practices that call from within us the highest ethical standards, the greatest levels of responsibility, and the deepest pools of compassion.

It is unfortunate that the proposed policies were not research-based and are without the input of school divisions and the population most directly and severely affected. We regret that it ignores the experience of divisions that have enacted policies to protect the well-being and the lives of all students.

We urge the Virginia Department of Education to revise these proposed policies, to consult with local school divisions, and to support locally elected school boards in the exercise of their constitutional responsibilities to provide all students with a safe and engaging public education, one that unleashes their highest personal development potential.

Graham Paige, Chair
Samuel Miller Magisterial District

Dr. Kate Acuff
Jack Jouett Magisterial District

Ellen Osborne
Scottsville Magisterial District

Jonno Alcaro
At-Large Representative

Katrina Callsen, Vice-Chair
Rio Magisterial District

Judy Le
Rivanna Magisterial District

David Oberg
White Hall Magisterial District