Youngkin discusses updated model school policies

On Sept. 20, after a tour of the Loudoun County Voter Registrars office ahead of early voting at the end of September, Gov. Glenn Youngkin discussed Virginia Public School’s new model policies regarding parental rights and transgender policies, when asked about it at a press gaggle after the tour.

“We want to respect all students. We want to respect their privacy, their dignity, their safety,” said Youngkin. “Second of all, we want to reaffirm the fact that parents must have a role in their children’s lives, and as these important decisions are made, parents should be informed and clued in—so that was the primary goal.”

He confirmed that that’s what this “draft model policy reflects.” Youngkin said there will be a 30-day comment period, and then schools “will move forward and follow up with their specific policies based on this model policy.”

“I think this is just an important moment for us to remember that at the end of the day, children have a need and a right to have a parent involved in their lives. And parents have a need and right to be involved in their children’s lives.” He stressed that “most important decisions should have a parent first.” That would not be at an “exclusion of a teacher or a trusted counselor. But parents should be first there.

“It’s clear that children don’t belong to the state, they belong to families, and this is the whole purpose of our model policy.”

Youngkin said he would “find it very hard to argue that a parent being involved in a child’s life is inconsistent with that of a child’s safety.

“This is about respecting children, respecting their dignity, respecting their privacy,” said Youngkin. “This is a moment for families to come together, not to exclude them.” Youngkin said that the previous administration’s policies encouraged hiding from the parents.