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After the June 18 School Board Meeting



Dear parents, colleagues, and community members,


Many people have written in to the Arlington Parent Coalition to ask what happened last night at the school board meeting where the J-2 Transgender Student PIP was introduced. Those of us who were there may understandably be feeling disappointed that the school board and staff are determined to push forward with their plans. But there are reasons to be encouraged, too:

  • The don’t-tell-the-parents clause was stricken from the current PIP draft. While the battle for parents’ rights and authority is far from over, this is a step in the right direction. The PIP presented last night is very different, and much less aggressive, than the original wish-list created by AGIA/GLSEN. Our voices and push for accountability certainly spoke into some of that reformation.

  • Because of the efforts of the APC network, many more parents and community members were informed about the issues and made aware of the flaws in the process than would have been otherwise. This was no small accomplishment. Citizens grew resolved and courageous, engaging in the public square on behalf of their children and community. Thank you to everyone who sent emails, had difficult conversations, spoke at meetings, or wrote letters. You are to be commended for your good work!

  • Although Round One wasn’t the full and complete victory for which we hoped, the battle isn’t over yet. We will remain vigilant to these “guidelines” as they continue to be refined over the next two weeks. The PIP process also allows APS staff to make modifications at any time, so we’ll need to keep close track of what’s being done.

  • New leadership is coming in following the departures of Drs. Murphy and Nattrass in the next couple of weeks. We can hope for more community-minded leaders in the school, who place a high standard on their commitment to children’s welfare and education, and who are (hopefully) less concerned with politics and perception. APC will need to engage with our new administrators quickly, to lay out concerns and expectations for more responsive and responsible community outreach.

  • APC will work to develop and distribute support for concerned parents to help them hold teachers and principals accountable. Parents will have to set firm boundaries around their children and with the school.

  • Alliance Defending Freedom shared yesterday that there is cause for hope in this issue. Three gender-identity cases are going before the Supreme Court in the fall. The outcomes of these should provide guidance for how schools are to handle these matters. At the moment school systems are jumping ahead of where federal law actually stands.

As always, thank you for all you are doing to protect and defend Arlington’s children. We will not tire in doing good, nor weary of a long but necessary battle.


Arlington Parent Coalition


"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." – Teddy Roosevelt, 1910

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