Public Input at 6/13/24 Fairfax County School Board Meeting
My name is Vanessa Hall. I am the proud parent of two FCPS students, one of whom just graduated! Thank you for attending our students' graduation ceremonies--it means so much to many of us.
I am also co-leader of FCPS Pride, and I would like to thank you for your support for our LGBTQIA staff, families, and students by today’s Pride Proclamation.
We held a small rally to celebrate the pride proclamation and other successes this year, like FCPS:
Reaffirming transgender and non-binary student rights by loudly rejecting Youngkin’s anti-trans policies and implementing Policy 2603.
Updating the Family Life Education (FLE) curriculum on consent, safety, and health.
Working to make FLE more inclusive of all students, including our LGBTQIA community.
And, the updated Title IX from the U.S. Department of Education that protects students from harassment and provides consequences for assault.
However, we all know that there is still work to be done. For example:
Our FLE curriculum is about three decades old. Interim changes to have been beneficial, but can not address deficiencies at the core of a curriculum developed in a previous century when gay marriage was illegal and our students and staff were still in the closet.
Virginia laws exist that prevent FLE from providing medically accurate and inclusive education to students.
Students and staff are still targeted or bullied for their actual or perceived sexuality or gender identity.
Obviously, schools can only do so much, so I beg parents and guardians to think about their words and actions, since students model what they hear and see. We should try our best to treat others in our community with kindness and respect. Yet, we must remain vigilant to prevent bullying, harassment, and harm to the FCPS community.
Our work may never be done, but we appreciate working with you, the School Board, to make our schools a safe and welcoming space for students and staff to have access to a great education and amazing opportunities.
Both Robert Rigby (4 Public Education board member) and Christine McCormick, of FCPS Pride gave powerful, meaningful speeches on similar subjects. Please consider listening to them to learn more about what we can work on together in the future to make our schools and FLE curriculum more inclusive.
Comments