Late Friday night, the Washington Post published an article referring to the new “Model Policies” that have been developed by the Virginia Department of Education (Virginia policy latest attempt to restrict rights of transgender students). The article indicates that Governor Youngkin seeks to roll back current privacy protections and practices for transgender students.

The FCCPS School Board wants to assure our community that we value and support every student in our charge. 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. We are committed to following the Virginia Human Rights Act and the settled law of Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board, 972 F.3d 586 (4th. Cir. 2020), which requires respect for the gender identity of transgender students just like any other student in FCCPS.

We have received the “Model Policies'' from the Virginia Department of Education, and our team is doing its analysis. As a Board and school division, we will watch this very closely during the public comment period set to open on September 26th. If you wish to add a comment during the comment period, here is the link https://townhall.virginia.gov/ . We believe all students deserve a community that promotes inclusion and celebrates authenticity and assure you that FCCPS will maintain consistency with settled law and our adopted nondiscrimination and anti-harassment policies.


Sincerely,

Laura Downs

Laura Downs
School Board Chair, on behalf of the FCCPS School Board

Peter Noonan
Superintendent of Schools, FCCPS