Dear families, students, and community members –

In response to the Youngkin administration’s proposed changes regarding the treatment of students who identify as transgender and non-binary, the Charlottesville City School Board strongly affirms Superintendent Dr. Gurley’s commitment to “continue to support our LGBTQ+ students, staff, parents/guardians, and others within our school communities.”

In this stance, we are supported by federal Title IX legislation, which extends school protections based on gender identity. In addition, our approach is in keeping with Virginia law, which requires the Virginia Department of Education to issue guidance to support transgender students according to “evidence-based best practices.” It’s worth noting that a recent attempt to legislatively overturn this law in Virginia failed. Our approach also follows our own nondiscrimination policy, which since 2013 has protected students based on gender expression and identity. On top of all this, protecting students is the right thing to do.

We are committed to maintaining our existing policy, adopted earlier this fall, which brings together in one place our prior practices for creating a supportive environment for gender-expansive and other students. While we continue to learn and grow in our capacity to support transgender and non-binary students, we are committed to moving forward with best practices supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics and others. We will not retreat to fear, misunderstanding, and bullying.

• One example of how the governor’s proposed new guidance fails to extend basic respect to transgender and non-binary students is the simple courtesy of calling students by their chosen name. Schools across the country already extend this practice to their students, whether the child uses a middle name, a variation of their first name, or a completely different name or nickname. Why, per this pending guidance, would we exempt our gender-expansive students from this basic decency?

We have always partnered with families and will continue to do so. Part of the schools’ role – in every area of a child’s growth – is to work alongside students and families and to help them navigate new terrain (and to seek their help as we also navigate new terrain).

Having said that, one of the values that schools offer young people is another set of trusted adults. Most of us can recall a time when we asked a caring teacher, clergy member, relative, or family friend for support, counsel, or a lifeline. Rejecting such connections for young people limits the very resources that have always been available to them. Mentoring relationships are at the heart of a successful school, and we want to nurture those relationships, not police them.

We are proud and privileged to stand alongside our transgender and non-binary students. As in so many other situations, when we make changes that support one group of students, we make our schools better for all our students.

We call on Governor Youngkin and the Virginia Department of Education to drop this proposed update to the guidance for transgender and non-binary students. As one of many school divisions across the state and nation that are committed to affirming and supporting gender-expansive students, Charlottesville City Schools would be happy to engage in a more productive conversation to promote mutual understanding, with the caveat that our students’ respect and safety are non-negotiable.

As a reminder, Virginia is accepting public comment on the proposed new policy through Wednesday, October 26, at: https://townhall.virginia.gov/L/comments.cfm?GDocForumID=1953

Charlottesville City School Board
Lisa Larson-Torres, Chair
James Bryant, Vice-Chair
Lashundra Bryson Morsberger
Emily Dooley
Sherry Kraft
Jennifer McKeever
Dom Morse

Our Plans to Support Trans and Non-Binary Students:

Another challenge from the past week is that last Friday night, the state announced new draft guidance that would attempt to undermine our ability to support students who identify as trans and non-binary. And though this guidance concerns our students, we know that proposed changes like this also set a tone for how we welcome and support our staff, parents/guardians, and others who are part of the LGBTQ+ community. Legislators have reminded us that these drafts are not final, that the state is bound by previous legislation, and that the community can lift its voice. Even so, let me speak clearly that we will continue to support our LGBTQ+ students, staff, parents/guardians, and others within our school communities.