Virginia Beach School Board’s ‘nondiscrimination’ resolution sent back for revisions amid concerns on pronouns, athletes

VIRGINIA BEACH — On Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, the School Board debated a resolution that could reject the state’s preference for how transgendered students should be treated in school. It ended with a directive to edit the document to address concerns raised by some board members — including whether the resolution would affect student athletes.

Board member Jessica Owens said she drafted the resolution to affirm the division’s commitment to anti-discrimination in response to the dozens of students who have come to each meeting since September. These students have called for the board to reject the state’s model policies, which essentially would reverse the state’s stance on the treatment of transgender students in public schools.

“I appreciate their advocacy despite the nerves, and they’ve inspired me to advocacy despite the nerves,” Owens said.

The resolution drew a big response. More than 100 people signed up to address the board Tuesday, so many that the public comment section of the meeting stretched more than three hours. While the roughly 20 student speakers were overwhelmingly in support of Owens’ resolution, the others were divided.

The resolution as it was presented in Tuesday’s agenda stated the board “will adopt no policies in violation of state or federal law” in order to protect students’ and families’ rights.

Board member Carolyn Weems said the resolution was vague, did not address the students’ concern regarding using preferred names and pronouns. Others agreed and referred to the division’s current nondiscrimination policies that have been in place for years.

Owens said the resolution was not about the Virginia Department of Education’s model policies and does not mention them. However, the background information provided in the agenda states, “The School Board had received many public comments and communications concerning its intent to protect the rights of students and families in light of proposed model policy changes by the Virginia Department of Education.”

This led some board members to question the resolution’s intent.

“The spirit behind this document ... is to say we’re going to reject the model policies when they’re released,” board member Kathleen Brown said.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration put out the Model Policies on the Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for all Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools last fall. These policies, if adopted, would require parental consent for students to go by their preferred names and pronouns in school and require them to use restrooms and participate in extracurriculars that aligned with their biological sex.

Though no direction has come from the state level since last year, some students have called on the board to reject the model policies.

“Do what is right and make us feel safe,” Finn Sproule, a student speaker, said.

Those who opposed the resolution said it undermined parental rights, allowing schools to hide students’ preferred pronouns, names and gender identity from their parents. Concerns were raised that parents’ perspective was being ignored.

“I think we need to put the ‘P’ back in ‘PTA,’” Gary Richards, one of the public speakers said.

Another speaker said the resolution “favors one population” within the student body.

Additionally, questions over how the resolution would impact participation in athletics were raised.

Board Chair Trenace Riggs started by offering a statement to address “confusion” and “misinformation” which was shared on social media, much of it stemming from the use of the word “activities” in the resolution.

There were multiple posts shared on Facebook that stated the policies would “allow boys to compete in girls sports.” Students First VA, a political action committee with which board member Victoria Manning is connected, posted this same message on its website. A May 7 blog post stated the resolution “advocates for boys to compete in girls sports.”

Several protesters outside the board meeting as well as public speakers criticized this interpretation of the policy for causing harm to female student athletes.

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The Virginia High School League regulates high school sports and currently allows transgender athletes to participate in sports or activities that align with their gender identity with the use of a waiver. This does not apply to middle school athletics.

Owens said she can clarify this matter in a revision of the resolution, along with other portions of the resolution to make it clearer what the intent is.

If approved, Owens’ resolution would not be the first example of a school board opposing the state’s model policies. Fairfax County School Board issued a “statement of continued support for transgender and gender-expansive students, staff, and families” last October. Similarly, the Richmond City School Board approved a resolution which rejects to model policies and “affirms its commitment to providing protections for all students regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.” Others around the state have made similar statements.

Owens said she can have a revised draft of the resolution by next week.

Kelsey Kendall, kelsey.kendall@virginiamedia.com