On Tues. July 18, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) released the final version of the “2022 Model Policies on Ensuring Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for All Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools.” The policies continue to reduce the rights of transgender students in favor of parents’ rights, a stance that helped get Youngkin elected in 2021. However, on Aug. 15, FCPS Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid released a statement saying that, after reviewing the model policies, she had concluded that simply ignoring the model and moving forward with our current policies is well within the legal capabilities of the model. FCPS, along with other Northern Virginia counties and Richmond Public Schools, will not follow Youngkin’s new suggested policies.
The model, which essentially only has a few minor wording changes from the one released in September of 2022, says that only parents would be able to decide what names and pronouns their children would use and that parents would be informed if students ask to talk to their counselor about gender-related topics. If the parent decided to, they could opt their child out of these conversations. For sports and activities that are separated by gender, students would only be able to participate in the ones that correspond to their sex assigned at birth, not their gender identity. The policies diverge sharply from those of Youngkin’s predecessor, Governor Ralph Northam (D).
Following FCPS’ decision not to use Youngkin’s model policies, many students were elated.
“It was a relief. I know so many people still in FCPS who would’ve been impacted by these policies, tons and tons,” Ranger Balleisen, a recently graduated senior who is part of the Pride Liberation Project, said.
Several current Madison students also don’t approve of the model.
“It treats kids like property,” William Burns (‘25) said. “If a child doesn’t want their parents to know they are trans, that’s on the parents for being bad parents, not a child being sneaky. Furthermore, being trans or LGBTQ+ in general is a personal journey set out by someone by themself, and for themself alone. It’s no one else’s ‘right’ to get involved.”
While there has been a lot of pushback from the school systems that rejected Youngkin’s model, the governor deeply believes that what FCPS and other counties are doing is illegal, and he intends to fight with them on this issue.
“It is the law, and they don’t have a choice,” Youngkin said.
Youngkin’s Attorney General, Jason Miyares, backs him up on the issue, also citing legal reasons.
“These policies are fully compliant with the law, and school boards across the Commonwealth should support and implement them,” said Miyares. “It’s not just common sense, it’s the law.”
It remains to be seen how the Youngkin administration will react to the counties who haven’t followed his model, and whether he will take legal action, but as of the publication of this paper, he has not forced FCPS or other districts to agree to them.