A joint work session Tuesday between Gloucester supervisors and school board members saw a recent video made by school board member Darren Post become the subject of attention.
In the Facebook video made by Post, he criticizes recent policy changes made by the Gloucester County School Board related to transgender students. In the video, he claims that the policies would allow for students who identify as transgender to share bathrooms and other private spaces with cisgender boys and girls. He claimed the policies do not protect students from the possibility of harm caused by other students of differing gender orientations.
At the start of the meeting, school board chair Robin Rice took a moment to address the video. She pointed to two factors that led to the recent policy changes. The first factor, she said, was the law passed by the General Assembly last year that requires the fair treatment of transgender students, requiring every Virginia school system to adopt nondiscriminatory policies.
The second was the recently concluded Gavin Grimm case. Grimm v. The Gloucester School Board confirmed that Gloucester’s former bathroom policy was in violation of Title 9 and violated the 14th Amendment. This has led to Gloucester schools constructing new bathrooms in the schools that allow students regardless of gender orientation to use them.
The policies Gloucester adopted are standard non-discriminating polices, said Rice. She said the policies are similar to those that are being approved across the nation. The policies also had to be approved prior to the start of the school year in order to operate. She invited those who had questions or concerns regarding the policies to stay after the meeting to talk.
Rice stated that the comments made by Post in the video were not accurate and misrepresented the school board’s policies. Post responded by saying that he may not have accurately stated what the policies were, he said the policies adopted do not specifically address any of the situations he proposed.
School board member Troy Andersen echoed Rice by saying that Post’s video did not accurately reflect the policies, that Post’s arguments were wrong and based on misinformation. Andersen also reiterated that the policies Gloucester previously had in place were in violation of the 14th Amendment and had to be changed.
Later in the meeting, supervisor Phillip Bazzani asked for clarification on the design on the nondiscriminatory bathrooms. It was explained that the bathrooms include an open sink area with private stalls. The individual stalls would provide the students with privacy.
Rice added that the new design would allow for teachers to see what students are doing outside the private stalls. She said it will help teachers prevent students from fighting, cutting class and using banned substances while in the restroom.
Rice and Andersen’s attempt to clear the air did not prevent several Gloucester County residents from approaching the podium during the citizen comment period. Supervisors’ chair Robert “JJ” Orth allowed residents to make comments on the video and not just related to work session topics.
Citizen comments
Several Gloucester parents came to the stand to voice their concerns and fears with the new school policies that Post’s video brought to their attention.
Bobby Lightner, a disabled veteran and father, expressed his concerns about his daughters using the same restrooms as male students. He said he would not allow them to do that and was upset that the schools didn’t want to continue fighting against the bathroom polices.
Kristy Montgomery, a mother and sexual abuse survivor, said the new policies were unfair and didn’t protect her daughters. She said one will walk around the school to use the non-transgender bathrooms and gets accused of skipping class because of it.
Sharon Setterholm said that she chose to homeschool her kids because of the new policies and choices the schools were making. She said that her daughters were uncomfortable enough having to dress for gym in front of other girls as it was. She also questioned why students like her daughters are not able to have a choice in the matter.
Other residents shared similar complaints towards the school board and many had questions regarding the policies. County Attorney Ted Wilmot addressed the audience, saying that the comment period was not for questions and answers, but encouraged them to take up Rice’s offer to stay after the meeting to speak with her.