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A public school district in Virginia rejected implementing state policies that address the treatment of transgender and nonbinary students.
"The school board has received input from many citizens this evening and we have had the opportunity to discuss among ourselves. We have determined we will not take any action on the proposed transgender policies at this time. Which means it is not in effect," chairwoman of the Chesapeake School Board Victoria Proffitt said, WAVY reported.
The guidance from the Virginia Department of Education allows nonbinary and transgender students to use bathrooms and play on sports teams that correspond with their chosen identity, not birth gender. The policies, however, never made it to a school board vote, as only one board member moved to consider them.
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Many speakers in front of the board Monday night slammed the state guidance as stripping parents of control over their children, WAVY reported.
"When my children are at school, they are students and not the school’s children. My parental authority doesn’t end in the parking lot," one mother against the policy told the board.
The move comes after the Newport News’ school board also declined to implement the state policies, though the board called a special meeting to reexamine the vote.
The board member in support of the guidance, Dr. Patricia King, lamented that she thinks the school board let transgender and nonbinary students down.
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"Transgenders are not pedophiles, they are not sexual predators, they are just people who want to live their lives the way they want to live them and they have every right to do that," King said following the vote. "I don’t think [transgender students] should be fearful because we will protect all our children but I think the school board let them down."
The General Assembly passed state law last year that requires schools to adopt the policies no later than the 2021-2022 school year.
Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam said last year of the guidance that, "we fully expect our schools to treat transgender students — like all students — with the dignity and respect they deserve."
"This bill represents an important step towards making Virginia more welcoming and inclusive of all," he added.
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His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Chesapeake Public Schools’ decision to not implement the state’s guidance this week.
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