Virginia says local schools should 'eliminate gender-based practices' under new transgender rules

The department's Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia's Public Schools was developed pursuant to legislation passed last year by the state legislature and signed into law by Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam. That law dictates that the Department of Education is required to "develop and make available" new rules, after which school districts are required to adopt policies that "are consistent with but may be more comprehensive than" the state-level guidance.

The rules were quietly promulgated earlier this year, but generated interest and controversy late this month as some school officials publicized efforts to come in line with the guidance. 

The document offers "information, best practices, guidance, procedures, and standards" for school boards developing policies to address their treatment of transgender students. School boards "may adopt example language in the model policies or use it as a guide to draft policies that meet the unique needs of their school division," the guidance reads. 

The document advises that "in general, school divisions should make efforts to eliminate gender-based practices to the extent possible."

"Gender-based policies, rules, and practices can have the effect of marginalizing, stigmatizing, and excluding students, regardless of their gender identity or gender expression," it states, citing "practices that may be based on gender" such as "grouping students for class activities, gender-based homecoming or prom courts, limitations on who can attend as 'couples' at school dances, and gender-based events such as father-daughter dances."

The new state rules also appear to require local schools to permit students on overnight school trips to choose lodging accommodations that align with their gender identity rather than their biological sex.

"Students have the right to equitable access to programs, activities, and events that include but are not limited to acknowledgements, dances, assemblies, after-school programs, extracurricular activities, intramurals, non-competitive sports leagues, and field trips," it reads. 

"For overnight field trips, the school should not force the student into single-occupancy accommodations that are not required for other students," it states, though it acknowledges that "such alternative accommodations should be made available to any student requesting them."

Fall 2021 deadline for new rules