While school districts grapple with attacks on transgender students, some schools are moving in the other direction. Champlain Valley School District has passed expansive rights for trans students.
While this is certainly good news, it’s hard to be too uplifted given the nearly simultaneous news re. the speaker election in the House of Representatives - and the near certainly that fiercely bad national anti-trans legislation will be enacted by that legislative body at the earliest possible opportunity. Another guardrail is down in the steadily worsening environment for trans people in the US.
What an important and uplifting report! Thank you for all your hard work, Erin. Especially now while we’re all gasping for the air of good news. This news provides so much hope!
Erin: The context linked under "unanimously" -- to an article at Seven Days VT, branded "Vermont's Independent Voice" -- is fantastically thorough in explaining how the district undertook its process. Some of the details which stood out to me included:
* The district didn't begin its policy discussions at public school board meetings. It tasked a committee with studying the issues and gathering input from "principals, school counselors and nurses, students, and parents".
* It sounds like a high value was placed on 1-on-1 conversations with parents. One parent who opposed to the official policy, as well as the long-standing de facto practices, had conversations with committee members, including the school board president.
* While there was no mention of public protests or high-drama school board meetings, this paragraph stood out to me:
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A number of community members contacted board members to question the policy, with correspondence that ranged from "blatantly hateful to genuinely curious," Arsenault said. Board members responded to all of those who sent messages, she said, trying to dispel misconceptions and assuring them that the policy was based largely on systems already in place.
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* The school board is acutely aware that the ADF -- Alliance Defending Freedom -- has its sights trained on Vermont schools after suing two other districts. Once crafted, the new policy went through two rounds of legal review before being approved.
While this model may not be easily replicated in other districts, it speaks plainly and boldly to the fact that it can be done. Excellent work by the entire community, including the Champlain Valley School District board members.
Thanks for sharing this heartwarming story, Erin. These guarantees will help ensure that students can learn in an environment where their identities are respected, something that other districts would do well to emulate. Freedom to be our true selves is an essential right that must be guaranteed everywhere. 💖🪻
Great news from Bernie's state! Thank you so much; I'll take any glimmer of hope and in my mind I'll grow it into hopefulness to get my head out of the mud.
While this is certainly good news, it’s hard to be too uplifted given the nearly simultaneous news re. the speaker election in the House of Representatives - and the near certainly that fiercely bad national anti-trans legislation will be enacted by that legislative body at the earliest possible opportunity. Another guardrail is down in the steadily worsening environment for trans people in the US.
What an important and uplifting report! Thank you for all your hard work, Erin. Especially now while we’re all gasping for the air of good news. This news provides so much hope!
Erin: The context linked under "unanimously" -- to an article at Seven Days VT, branded "Vermont's Independent Voice" -- is fantastically thorough in explaining how the district undertook its process. Some of the details which stood out to me included:
* The district didn't begin its policy discussions at public school board meetings. It tasked a committee with studying the issues and gathering input from "principals, school counselors and nurses, students, and parents".
* It sounds like a high value was placed on 1-on-1 conversations with parents. One parent who opposed to the official policy, as well as the long-standing de facto practices, had conversations with committee members, including the school board president.
* While there was no mention of public protests or high-drama school board meetings, this paragraph stood out to me:
------
A number of community members contacted board members to question the policy, with correspondence that ranged from "blatantly hateful to genuinely curious," Arsenault said. Board members responded to all of those who sent messages, she said, trying to dispel misconceptions and assuring them that the policy was based largely on systems already in place.
------
* The school board is acutely aware that the ADF -- Alliance Defending Freedom -- has its sights trained on Vermont schools after suing two other districts. Once crafted, the new policy went through two rounds of legal review before being approved.
While this model may not be easily replicated in other districts, it speaks plainly and boldly to the fact that it can be done. Excellent work by the entire community, including the Champlain Valley School District board members.
Thanks for sharing this heartwarming story, Erin. These guarantees will help ensure that students can learn in an environment where their identities are respected, something that other districts would do well to emulate. Freedom to be our true selves is an essential right that must be guaranteed everywhere. 💖🪻
Vermont for the win, again!
The same state where their state governing body for high school activities told the evilgelicals to kick rocks. I approve this message.
Awesome! Very uplifting. 💕
Great news from Bernie's state! Thank you so much; I'll take any glimmer of hope and in my mind I'll grow it into hopefulness to get my head out of the mud.