A Virginia school board declined to adopt the state’s guidelines Tuesday requiring protections for transgender students.
“The policy doesn’t create the concern,” Newport News School Board Vice Chairwoman Lisa Surles-Law said. “If we are not prepared to deal with the concern, then we are doing our students a disservice there.”
The board voted 5-1 against revisions to its Equal Educational Opportunities Policy to meet the state standard required by law.
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The protections are the product of a state law passed by the Virginia General Assembly in 2020 that mandates school divisions establish protections for transgender and nonbinary students.
“Yes, the General Assembly passed a law — they passed a bad law in my opinion — but their law required us to take a vote. … It does fall to us, and I don’t believe we can actually defer this responsibility by saying, ‘Well, the General Assembly made me do it.’ I very much believe in following the law. … When the law violates the Constitution, then it’s a bad law,” said Chairman Douglas Brown.
#NewportNews School Board members voted against adopting a required #Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) policy regarding the treatment of transgender students at Tuesday night’s school board meeting. https://t.co/KmD8P8VpXy
— WTKR News 3 (@WTKR3) August 19, 2021
Students changing their gender identity, possibly more than once, could cause issues with the state’s records, Brown said.
Implementing such procedures imposes “a set of beliefs on everyone,” he suggested, saying that he doesn’t impose his religious beliefs on anyone.
The Virginia Department of Education encourages schools to adopt name and gender pronouns according to students’ preferences, allowing them to use restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity.
They can also play sports and participate in other gender-specific activities.
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VDOE Superintendent of Instruction James Lane said the state would not penalize districts that fail to adopt the policy, “but they face pressure of litigation from families of students who identify as transgender.”
