The Alexandria City Public School District (ACPS) has vowed to continue hiding information about transgender students from their parents, in defiance of the Virginia Board of Education's new guidelines.
Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson applauded the district's decision, tweeting that they "will continue to implement existing policies that support our students, affirm their identity, protect their safety AND comply with the Code of Virginia. I stand with ACPS and with the students they serve."
The school district claimed that hiding information from parents is crucial to their "racial equity" efforts.
"We want to assure you that Alexandria City Public School District (ACPS) will continue its commitment to both implement and develop gender affirming policies for all ACPS students," the school district said in an email to parents, which was shared by Mayor Wilson. "As a School Board and division, we are concerned with these 'model policies' that do not align with our mission, vision, and core values to support all students and staff, in particular our core value of ensuring that we provide a welcoming environment for everyone in our school community." Today @ACPSk12 leadership provided an update to our community.
They will continue to implement existing policies that support our students, affirm their identity, protect their safety AND comply with the Code of Virginia.
I stand with ACPS and with the students they serve. pic.twitter.com/UT4mLvFUaU
— Justin Wilson (@justindotnet) September 19, 2022
“These ‘model policies’ seek to undermine this vital work and set the clock back on the gains we have accomplished as a school division to place racial equity at the heart of our work,” the district said in an email to parents.
An anonymous Twitter user responded to the mayor's tweet and asked, "what is the minimum interaction with my child required before a school official can replace me as a parent? The child I birthed and raised for the prior decade." Another person posting from an anonymous Twitter account, bravely hiding your identity, while you advocate that school systems out terrified children to their parents, and not understanding the irony.
How about you go first, and leave our kids alone?
— Justin Wilson (@justindotnet) September 20, 2022
Mayor Wilson responded, "Another person posting from an anonymous Twitter account, bravely hiding your identity, while you advocate that school systems out terrified children to their parents, and not understanding the irony. How about you go first, and leave our kids alone?"
As Timcast previously reported, last week the Virginia Department of Education moved to change the way that schools handle students who say that they are transgender.
The new model policies were released on Friday and focus heavily on parental rights.
"The 2021 Model Policies promoted a specific viewpoint aimed at achieving cultural and social transformation in schools," the guide states. "The 2021 Model Policies also disregarded the rights of parents and ignored other legal and constitutional principles that significantly impact how schools educate students, including transgender students. With the publication of these 2022 Model Policies on the Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for All Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools (the '2022 Model Policies'), the Department hereby withdraws the 2021 Model Policies, which shall have no further force and effect."
The guide says that students must use facilities and play on sports teams based on their biological sex.
It also states that "parents are in the best position to work with their children and, where appropriate, their children’s health care providers to determine (a) what names, nicknames, and/or pronouns, if any, shall be used for their child by teachers and school staff while their child is at school, (b) whether their child engages in any counseling or social transition at school that encourages a gender that differs from their child’s sex, or (c) whether their child expresses a gender that differs with their child’s sex while at school."
