The School Board’s Student Services Committee is recommending that an “objective” outside organization be retained to lead focus groups with the community on proposed changes to the division’s transgender student policy.
The panel is reviewing proposed revisions to the policy that would incorporate changes sought by the Youngkin administration.
The current policy allows students to use the bathroom or locker room of their gender identity and to participate in sports or other activities according to their gender identity. It also allows students on a case-by-case basis to change their name and pronouns without consulting parents. The 2023 model polices, which went into effect July 19, state students are to use bathrooms and locker rooms according to their sex and not their gender identity. That rule also applies to sports and other activities.
Melinda Mansfield’s (Dulles) suggestion to hold focus groups was endorsed on a 2-1 vote.
Committee Chair Anne Donohue (At-large) voted against the proposal saying she wanted more time to consider it.
“I don’t feel I have sufficient time to think through if I think that is the best way to move forward. I may come to that conclusion, but I’m not prepared to do that right now,” she said.
Donohue said she felt like the committee needed more time to discuss the policy and possible changes to get it right for all students. She proposed holding more committee work sessions rather than voting on staff proposed revisions that night but asked other members for input.
“I feel very strongly that we need to take our time thinking about it and make sure we get it right,” she said.
Mansfield said she felt it was important to get guidance and to hear from the community. She proposed bringing in an outside organization to conduct focus groups.
Kari LaBell (Catoctin) said she felt the idea of having community discussions was a good opportunity for the board to get the policy right.
She pushed for a vote on Mansfield’s motion, saying they needed to be thoughtful about the policy and not hasty.
“We need to look at what the children and students have to say. They are at the center. We’ve heard from the adults, we need to hear from the children being impacted by this,” she said.
Several students and parents spoke against current policy 8040 and asked for changes to protect female students.
Sophomore Madalyn Platt asked the board to give girls back their privacy and to protect girls’ sports.
One father, who said he was representing the Muslim community in the county, pointed out that half of the 80,000 students in the county are girls and said thousands of those girls are Muslim girls.
“They need the privacy in the restrooms to be able to be comfortable and do what they need to do in the restroom especially adjusting their hijab and I think this policy affects their ability to do what they need to do in the restroom,” he said, adding it hurts their conservative values and faith and asked the committee to consider making adjustments.
Other parents argued the policy had unintended consequences and said girls have the right to feel safe in bathrooms.
Kris Consaul said she agreed with parents who wanted to keep their children safe, but said she wanted to keep her transgender son safe, as well. Consaul said she believed the policy could be improved to make all students feel safe and have the privacy they needed.
“My two concerns about the policy are first, you’ve completely erased my son from a protective policy, second there are many students in the county who are afraid to come out to their own families. Outing them without their permission could have them banished from their houses,” she said asking for more work to be done on the policy.
Other parents argued the rights of LGBTQ students were not negotiable and the policy was there to protect a vulnerable population.
After the committee’s decision to continue discussion on the policy, there were mixed feelings.
Consaul said she was pleased with the way the committee was planning to handle it.
“I think that by sending this issue to an outside consultant to be able to have some non-confrontational conversation about how we are feeling about this issue, I think that is going to give us a really good chance to provide both the physical and psychological safety for my son, or for their daughters or sons,” she said. “There is research out there and studies that are showing that policies like 8040 reduce sexual violence against trans people and it does not increase sexual violence against cis people.”
Ken Lokulutu, a father of five, said he was disappointed in the committee’s decision.
“This is a safety issue, we’ve already had cases of sexual assault and there is an urgency to the matter,” he said. “In addition to this being a safety issue, it’s a commonsense issue that doesn’t require a lot of debating to resolve.”
Lokulutu said it is “deplorable” for girls to be the victims in the situation.
“We are a society that prides itself on the advancement of girls and women’s rights, now this?” he asked.
Shane Gillman, a father of two said he was upset a date wasn’t selected for when an amended policy would be passed.
“It was not productive at all. They are passing the buck and you’ve got children as young as five years old and children in middle school and high school forced to share bathrooms with people of the opposite sex and that is just not fair,” he said.
State law requires school boards to adopt policies that are consistent with the new policies and school divisions are expected to either move forward with incorporating the new policies or to combine them with current policies on the matter. However, there does not seem to be repercussions for divisions who do not.
The committee will meet again in March.
