The Fairfax County School Board is expected to vote Thursday on whether to expand its non-discrimination policy to protect transgender students and teachers.
INTERVIEW – ELIZABETH SCHULTZ – Fairfax County School Board Member (Springfield)
Next Fairfax County School Board meeting is tonight at 7 pm.
WHERE: The auditorium at Luther Jackson Middle School, 3020 Gallows Road., Falls Church, Virginia
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E-mail school board: [email protected]
Background information on tonight’s meeting from School Board member Schultz:
The proposed change, which policy change has every inevitability of passing easily absent a significant public demand to the contrary.
The public is welcome – encouraged – to attend for the vote of the Board at its meeting on Thursday, May 7th at 7 p.m. at Luther Jackson Middle School, 3020 Gallows Rd., Falls Church, VA 22042.
In addition to the absence of existing or proposed FCPS regulations behind such a policy change – the Board has been advised that draft Regulations will not be available from FCPS staff until September 30, 2015 – the Board has now been informed the Office of Civil Rights through the U.S. Department of Education is “compelling” this language change under THREAT of withholding federal funding.
A motion to defer (delay) the Board’s vote unless and until such a time as the Board is properly informed about the commensurate draft Regulation language and can determine the overall impact of this change to Policy 1450 has been introduced by FCPS Board Member Elizabeth Schultz, Springfield District.
The background to this rapid policy consideration is as follows:
· The policy change was proposed by at-large member Ryan McElveen and approved at a special Board forum on March 12, 2015 by enough members of the Board to formally consider a change to FCPS policy. The FCPS Board already added ‘sexual orientation’ to its Non-Discrimination Policy in November; this is the link to that full Board discussion. That vote was the impetus for the April 23rd New Business to further expand the language for ‘gender identification’ (transgender).
· The policy change as proposed pertains not only to FCPS students matters but to employment practices for all FCPS employees as well, including teachers.
· Reviewing the documentation presented by Ryan McElveen and the Forum discussion by some Board members, the suggested policy appears to be cued from the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Attorney General Mark Herring’s political ambitions. The implications of such a proposed change simply have not been explored by this Board. There is no material understanding of very real and germane issues, including a) budgetary matters around facility and operational issues regarding the implementation of such a policy, nor b) an account of how the safety and privacy – for students and employees alike – in all FCPS buildings and classrooms will be preserved. The draft regulations to implement this Policy 1450 change will not even be finished by FCPS staff until September 30, 2015.
· Without understanding the implications or intent of such proposed policy, there isno basis for a Board Member to answer constituents’ constructive concerns. This becomes particularly important when noting there are school divisions where such sweeping policy changes have significantly impacted the environment for teachers, academics and even student athletics:
O High school league votes to let transgender athletes pick their teams
O California Public School Kids Now Required to Study Contributions of LGBT Americans
O New LGBTTQ+ Policy Includes Gender-Free Pronouns Xe, Xem and Xyr
O State allows high school students to participate in activities in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on a student’s records
