Loudoun County parents weigh in on Gov. Youngkin's transgender student policies
LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. - Parents at Tuesday night's Loudoun County School Board meeting want board members to hear them out.
They say the way schools handle transgender policies in the school district should be reconsidered.
"Children are not born in the wrong body. Get out of their heads," one parent said.
Another person during public comment said, "The new model policy will make schools less safe."
Last month, Governor Glenn Youngkin revealed the Virginia Department of Education's 2022 Model Policies.
At the moment, it's a draft that has parents concerned. It has to do with the privacy and safety of transgender students. As it stands, a teacher does not have to inform parents about a student's gender or sexuality change.
Some parents at the meeting believe if a student feels safe sharing their gender questions or concerns with a teacher, that's absolutely ok.
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Other parents FOX 5 spoke with say they need to be involved in major conversations.
"Right now, they are allowing teachers to keep secrets from parents if they have problems or are confused with their gender," said Megan Jenkins, a Loudoun County Public Schools parent. "They are trying to keep it from the parents, and it's not right. If a child has gender confusion, they should take that to the parents."
"I think school needs to be a safe place. So many kids are spending so much time there, and I know I want my kid to be in a place where everyone is respected, everyone is accepted and everyone is treated fairly and equally," said Kathy Ellen Davis, another Loudoun County parent.
A spokesperson with the school district told FOX 5 the school board has not adopted Governor Youngkin's proposed policies. They are still in the public comment phase.
In a statement, the school district said: "These model policies are currently under review at the state level, and LCPS is carefully considering the model policies and whether they require any changes to LCPS policies in order to comply with federal and state law."