Repost from The Virginia Star.
The Virginia Department of Education posted a new draft of model policies to replace the Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students. The draft policies published Friday include an emphasis on parental rights as a major shift away from a current emphasis on protecting students’ gender identity from people, including family, who may not be understanding.
The first point under the Guiding Principles section of the draft states, “Parents have the right to make decisions with respect to their children: Policies shall be drafted to safeguard parents’ rights with respect to their child, and to facilitate the exercise of those rights.”
That point includes the most explanation with three subpoints: “Schools shall respect parents’ values and beliefs,” “Schools shall defer to parents to make the best decisions with respect to their children,” and “Schools shall keep parents informed about their children’s well-being“.
Briefer explanations accompany the remaining three guiding principles: “Schools shall serve the needs of all students,” “Schools shall partner with parents,” and “Schools shall respect all students.”
The VDOE, Governor Glenn Youngkin, and other top administration officials didn’t issue press releases about the policy published to a VDOE page on Friday. Virginia Department of Education Director of Communications Charles Pyle said VDOE will make an announcement later this month when the public comment process begins.
“Following the review of public comments and any resulting edits, the model policy document will become final,” Pyle said.