Arlington Public Schools released its “Transgender Students in Schools - Guidelines and Implementation Plan” on September 5, 2019 through their Engage Update newsletter. An open comment period will close on September 30th.
Arlington Parent Coalition consistently expressed grave concerns about the J2 policy implementation procedures (PIP), as well as the deeply flawed process by which it was enacted. In short, this policy promotes the dangerous and evidence-unsupported practice of promoting transgender affirmation, undermines girls’ legal protections to privacy and safe spaces, as well as assigns to the school and its staff greater authority than to the children’s own parents.
Through the Engage Update newsletter, parents are asked to comment on the staff guidelines which address how the transgender student accommodations will be enacted in each school. APC believes that this exercise is patronizing, irrelevant, and a waste of time.
First, school “guidelines” can be altered by APS staff at any time with no public notice so the guidelines will continue to change. Second, at no time did the Arlington school system show a good faith effort to incorporate any concerns or point-of-view beyond those of the transgender activists when developing the J2 PIP document itself.
If parents do choose to complete the comment section for the guidelines, we offer the following points for consideration.
Problems start with the first line of the guidelines. APS defines “gender identity” as “one’s sense of self….that may not correspond to a person’s sex assigned at birth.” We believe that a person’s sex is an unchangeable, physical, biological fact. It is written into one’s DNA on a cellular level.
Gender dysphoria (i.e. having transgender self-identity or feelings) is a mental-health issue, often complicated by comorbidities (one or more additional mental health conditions) which often go untreated in a transgender individual and are universally unaddressed by the school.
There is much debate and concern in the medical and mental-health professions about the new practice of transgender affirmation. However, this controversial approach alone is promoted by transgender advocacy groups. The APS transgender student guidelines all dictate gender identity affirmation.
The proposed guidelines do not outline or discuss how the schools will differentiate between transgender individuals using the opposite-sex bathroom and students who use those same spaces with the intent to sexually harass or intimidate others.
Now that these transgender student accommodations are provided, what non-stigmatizing options exist for students who are uncomfortable sharing private space with transgender students? What recourse have they to report their discomfort with or abuses of the accommodations?
If students are uncomfortable sharing a locker room with the opposite-sex transgender student, the onus is consigned upon them to communicate their discomfort with school staff. The student who is uncomfortable must travel to the separate changing area. What accommodations are in place for students with social disorders such as autism spectrum or anxiety who may find those nuanced, awkward communications especially burdensome?
Dress codes are required to be “gender neutral.” Which gender? Who decides what is gender neutral?
Title IX law protects women’s sports programs. How are APS guidelines that allow male students to play on female students’ teams legal?
Guideline #6 requires teachers and administrators to conceal information about the choices and behavior of and conversations with transgender students from their parents. How is this not an outrageous overstepping of the school’s authority? Why would a school have the right to keep information about minor children from parents? How will this misappropriated authority then be prevented from being applied by APS to other policies?
Arlington schools are not neutral environments. Issues of gender identity, sexual orientation, and sexuality now are erroneously treated as issues of civil rights and diversity. Lesson plans and discussions that support the spectrum-approach to sexuality now take place in traditional curricula such as English and history. Our children are exposed constantly to propaganda through assembly speakers, monthly celebrations, posters on the wall, books in the library, and after-school clubs that don’t require parental permission slips the way every other school club does. Students risk ostracization and being labeled “bigoted” or “transphobic” if they challenge the new cultural norms.
Parents MUST advocate for safe academic space to protect their child’s innocence and ability to learn without the distractions of the progressive agenda. APC Parent’s Guide can help. You can say it with a smile, but tell your teachers and principals that you expect, as a parent and taxpayer, that they will focus on academics and leave discussions of sexuality and identity to families. Inform APC about situations that violate your child’s rights to religious beliefs, free speech, privacy, and safe spaces, as well as your parental rights. We are documenting these events. Choose to opt your child out of all lessons with sexuality themes. The actions you take may help protect other children. In addition, watchful parents make it easier for teachers to keep their instruction focused on academics and not on social agendas.
Finally, we all need to talk to our children! Root them deeply in your family’s values and provide a loving home and community to weather this cultural storm. We’re here to support you in any way we can.