Listen 6 min
Share
Comment on this story Comment
Two parents filed a lawsuit seeking to force the Virginia Beach School Board to adopt Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s state guidance that rolls back protections for transgender students in K-12 public schools.
Fast, informative and written just for locals. Get The 7 DMV newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning. ArrowRight
The lawsuit, filed last week in Virginia Beach Circuit Court, alleges that the school board violated Virginia law when it rejected a resolution proposed last month to implement the policies.
The Virginia Department of Education finalized the model policies for the treatment of transgender students in July, replacing the 2021 guidance devised under Gov. Ralph Northam (D) that added protections for transgender students in public schools. Youngkin’s guidelines focus instead on parental rights, with recommendations to include a narrower definition of transgender students and make it more difficult for students to change their name or pronouns at school.
Advertisement
Under state law, school districts are required to adopt policies that are “consistent” with the guidance. The law, however, offers no way for the state to enforce compliance and leaves room for interpretation by each school board of what is “consistent.” Some school districts have adopted the policies as written, while others have said they would reject the governor’s changes.
The teens fighting to keep Youngkin’s trans policies out of their schools
In Virginia Beach, the topic has been divisive. Dueling groups have spoken at school board meetings, even when the guidance was not up for debate. Last month, the politically divided school board did not pass a resolution introduced by board member Victoria Manning to fully implement the sample policies as written in Richmond. Instead, the board began reviewing each of its current policies to ensure they are aligned with state guidance. The board was slated to discuss the policies again Tuesday evening.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the two parents by the Cooper & Kirk law firm, argues that the board’s decision to reject the state guidance infringed on the right of parents Sarah Winesett and Vanessa Beasley “to make educational decisions for their children.”
Advertisement
“School boards have no discretion to reject the Model Policies or otherwise maintain inconsistent policies, yet the Virginia Beach School Board has unlawfully voted against adopting the Model Policies,” lead attorney Chuck Cooper said in a statement. “Our clients, the parents of two Virginia Beach students, have courageously decided to stand up for the rights of their children and parents in the Commonwealth.”
Youngkin applauded the parents, he said in an interview with reporters at an unrelated event in Virginia Beach on Monday.
“I’m proud of them for standing up for their children and for kids. I support them. And as you know, I firmly believe that there is no other decision for school boards than to adopt the model policies or policies consistent with the model policies,” he said.
Youngkin retools message for new elections with ‘Parents Matter’ talks
Youngkin has previously criticized school districts that are resisting his recommendations, and Attorney General Jason S. Miyares (R) issued a nonbinding legal opinion last month that the policies comply with state law — answering a question that had been raised by some lawyers around the state. Miyares also encouraged parents to legally challenge their school district if they thought the board was not complying. In a statement, spokeswoman Victoria LaCivita said the attorney general’s office would be monitoring all litigation and would “participate where doing so is appropriate and parents have valid claims.” It was reviewing the Virginia Beach lawsuit, she said.
Advertisement
Advocates and legal experts have expected litigation since the governor finalized the policies in July. After his administration released an initial draft last September, opponents argued that it violated the Virginia Human Rights Act, which protects individuals in public settings, including schools, from discrimination on the basis of gender identity.
Share this article Share
Wyatt Rolla, senior transgender rights attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, said in a statement that school boards around the state have a legal obligation to protect students from discrimination on the basis of gender identity under existing nondiscrimination laws.
“The City of Virginia Beach School Board is not required to adopt the VDOE’s model policies verbatim, but it is required by both state and federal law to ensure that students are protected from discrimination on the basis of gender identity,” Rolla said. “The model policies at best invite — and at worst, require — unlawful discrimination.”
The controversy stems from a 2020 law, introduced by Democrats, that directed the state Department of Education to address “common issues regarding transgender students in accordance with evidence-based best practices and include information, guidance, procedures, and standards.”
Advertisement
Northam hoped to use the law to promulgate rules that would protect trans students. In 2021, his guidance would have let them use bathrooms and join sports teams matching their gender identity.
When Youngkin took office in 2022, he reversed Northam’s proposal. LGBTQ+ advocates and students protested, and officials delayed implementation last year to give the Education Department time to review more than 70,000 public comments they received about the change.
The new model policies outline four main principles: Schools shall respect all students; parents have the right to make decisions with respect to their children; schools shall serve the needs of all students; and schools shall partner with parents. It then offers sample language that school boards can use.
The lawsuit filed last week also outlined specific complaints from each parent. It states that each parent believes that “gender identity does not alter whether someone is male or female” and that it is “inappropriate to refer to someone with a name or pronoun that affirms that individual’s attempted gender transition.” School administrators have said that refusing to use a student’s preferred name and pronouns is considered bullying or harassment, the lawsuit says.
Advertisement
The patchwork of decisions about whether to adopt the new model policies emulates the rollout of Northam’s 2021 guidance: Only 14 of Virginia’s 132 school districts adopted it. Eight school boards partially adopted it, and nine school boards rejected it. Virginia Beach partially adopted Northam’s guidance in 2021, and some members argued that the board should take the same approach with Youngkin’s.
At the time, the 2021 policies also faced legal challenges from conservative groups.
Share
Comments
Loading...
View more