VIRGINIA – Less than a month until the start of school, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) released new guidelines for transgender students in public schools.
The policy says students should use bathrooms or locker rooms based on their sex assigned at birth, unless their parents “opt-out” to give their child access to a “sex-separated” facility.
The guidelines also say that students who are minors must be referred to by the names and pronouns in their official records unless a parent approves the use of something else.
So what does this mean for your children?
10 News reached out to school districts across our viewing area from Wythe County to Roanoke, the Highlands, and Lynchburg.
Pulaski County’s new superintendent, Rob Graham, says he’s meeting with the school’s attorney on Monday to discuss the policy and figure out what to do moving forward.
Franklin County School Board Chairman Jeff Worley said, “Our staff and attorney are looking over the new model policy to see how it meshes with our current non-discrimination policies, and what procedures, if any, would have to change.”
Similar policies are already on the books in Bedford County Public Schools. Back in June, the board adopted a new policy preventing teachers from talking to students about gender identity or sexual orientation in the classroom, unless a student brings up the subject first.
Governor Glenn Youngkin says this new policy will give power back to parents.
“Let’s go to families first. the children belong to parents, not to politicians and bureaucrats and administrators and not even the teachers who are doing their best here,” Youngkin said. “And so let’s start with parents.”
The president of the Virginia Education Association, Dr. James J. Fedderman, says this will only harm LGBTQ students.
“If someone asked you to call them by a certain name, common decency is that you call them by that name,” Fedderman said. “Transgender students deserve the same basic respect and decency. And this policy gives permission for staff and other students to deliberately bully these students by calling them other names. And that’s not right.”
Ultimately, it’s too early to tell what local schools are going to do. While the law does say districts should align their policies with the VDOE, it’s not required.
10 News will continue working for you to keep you updated.