FFLC Issues Memo Re: Impact of Grimm v. Gloucester County on VA School Boards’ “Transgender” Policies

Today, the Founding Freedoms Law Center released a Legal Memo addressing the impact of the Fourth Circuit's Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board opinion on Virginia School Boards. While some local school boards have been using the Grimm decision as a basis for ignoring the 2023 Youngkin Model Policies for “transgender” students, and for trampling on students', parents', and teachers' rights, our Memo explains why that is simply not correct. Our plan is to make sure every school board member in Virginia gets a copy of our Memo.

FFLC’s Memo was bolstered by another important Memo that was also released today. Virginia’s Attorney General Jason Miyares released an official opinion clarifying, emphatically, that Governor Youngkin’s 2023 Model Policies on Ensuring the Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for All Students and Parents in Virginia Public Schools, comply with the Equal Protection Clause, Title IX, and the Virginia Human Rights Act, and that local school boards must adopt model policies consistent with them.

The Attorney General Opinion makes clear the provisions in the 2023 Model Policies that require 1) schools to communicate student information with parents, 2) parental permission for a student to use a different name or pronouns, 3) accommodations such as bathrooms and locker rooms be based on biological sex, and also 4) prohibit males from competing on female sports teams, are all soundly consistent with state and federal law, and the constitution.

Jason Miyares said this in an OAG press release today:

“This official Attorney General Opinion simply confirms what the overwhelming number of Virginians already know; parents have a fundamental right to the care, upbringing, and education of their children. Parents, not government, are in the best position to work with their children on important life decisions, and no parent signs up to co-parent with the government. In fact, the rights of parents are one of our oldest and most fundamental liberty interests. The Model Policies ensure that all students are treated with dignity and that parental involvement remains at the center. These policies are fully compliant with the law, and school boards across the Commonwealth should support and implement them. It's not just common sense, it's the law." [Emphasis added]