HANOVER REJECTS TRANSGENDER SCHOOL-FACILITIES POLICY
As a Hanover resident and father of children in Hanover public schools, I’m thrilled to report that the school board voted to protect the bodily privacy rights and safety of all students!
Before a packed room of over 100 people - and many more standing outside due to capacity restrictions - the board voted (4-3) to reject the most concerning portions of the VDOE "Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students," specifically those that would have threatened safety and privacy rights by allowing males, for instance, to use the female bathrooms, locker rooms, or sleeping quarters on overnight field trips.
They did pass a very narrow provision allowing student records to be changed with the permission of a parent to match the students' preferred name and gender, but it does not overtly require use of gender-neutral pronouns. While that portion could impact teachers and how they communicate with their students, the provision that did pass was at least narrower than the VDOE's radical version.
The Hanover County School Board provided multiple opportunities, including a two-hour special meeting last week and another hour before last night’s vote, for parents to express their concerns. Kimberly, a local mom, said, "As the parent of children currently attending our schools, I am deeply concerned about all children's rights to expect physical safety and privacy in vulnerable areas, such as locker rooms and restrooms. These areas have not been safe since I graduated high school in 2007." She added that "our schools have more to lose from costly sexual harassment lawsuits that are from Loudoun-style situations, than they risk from refusing to adopt this policy being forced on our community."
Another local mom, Cassie, emphasized parental rights, saying, “It’s my responsibility to teach my children about transgenderism at the time it is developmentally appropriate," rather than having a confusing topic that's too heavy for a 5-year old to understand introduced by the school without parental notice.
A Hanover father warned the school board that you cannot correct discrimination against one group of people by creating a discriminating policy against others, stressing that these social issues "devour our energy instead of taking up the challenge of educating our students.”
Perhaps the most impactful testimony of the night may have come from Faith, a courageous 6th grade student attending a local middle school, who told school board members that she had friends identifying as transgender, but at the same time, she would feel uncomfortable if biological "boys were allowed in the girls' bathroom--and I know I am not alone in that. I personally know teenage boys that would abuse these privileges just to have access to the bathrooms or locker rooms.”
This was a tremendous victory! Hanover County has now joined about 18 localities who've been courageous enough to reject these policies or decline to vote--and their action may help give courage to other school boards still deciding. Please take time to thank these four Hanover County School Board members who listened to the parents and voted to reject a policy that jeopardizes the bodily privacy and safety of their children.
John F. Axselle III, Beaverdam District
Phone: (804) 798-7782; email: SB-jaxselle@hcps.us
Steven Ikenberry, Cold Harbor District
Phone: (804) 514-2197; email: sb-sikenberry@hcps.us
Robert J. (Bob) May, South Anna District
Phone: (804) 752-4646; email: sb-rmay@hcps.us
George E. Sutton, Henry District
Phone: (804) 779-3324; email: SB-gsutton@hcps.us
Don't forget: Parents' rights don't end in the public school parking lot!
