Greetings from the Arlington Parent Coalition.
It's hard to believe we're in the waning days of July. We hope that everyone is having a restful summer and getting to enjoy some of the cooler (85F is cooler?) weather this week.
We wanted to send out an update just to touch base with everyone who has been concerned about the J-2 PIP in Arlington, and about the larger issues about the transgender ideology that is being rolled out in schools around the nation. Although Arlington Parent Coalition families were not ultimately successful in our request to have the J-2 PIP implementation postponed, we did have some successes, and we press on in our work to make public school safe for all students.
The J-2 PIP was approved at the first school board meeting in July, after school recessed for the summer. At that time the APC core leadership revisited its goals and mission, to define what our next plans and steps will be. The leadership met again earlier this week to discuss the various tasks and task forces that are being carried out and to set an agenda for the rest of the summer. APC's primary goal moving forward will be to support parents toward keeping their children safe in public school. Some facets of this mission include:
employing a task force to investigate and review the Family Life Education curriculum at APS.
creating a comprehensive guide to FLE events and incidents at APS which may be of concern to parents.
developing a universal opt-out letter that is more comprehensive than the FLE opt-out, which will no longer prevent children from being exposed to questionable and controversial sexuality and gender training.
establishing safe and responsible resources for parents whose children identify as gender dysphoric, or who want accurate information about these issues.
APC has also been contacted by a number of people across the nation who are concerned about what is happening in their public schools. We are working to equip these parents, teachers, and citizens with useful tools, research, and connections for them to be able to stand up to the transgender lobby which seeks to suppress debate, discussion, and dissension as it forces its will on our schools. APC is considering how best to move forward with these parallel concerns: the ongoing need for an organized parent response in Arlington Public Schools, as well as the need for a nation-wide networking campaign.
Thank you for all of your support. The J-2 petition, although no longer active, is still up on the website and we welcome further comments. If there is anything we can do to help as you prepare for the 2019-20 school year, please don't hesitate to contact us, via the Contact Form on the homepage of this website, or at arlingtonparentcoalition@gmail.com.
Enjoy the rest of your summer!