Alert: FCPS Students Will Be Automatically Enrolled in Unpopular Unisex Sex-Ed Classes Unless Parents Opt Out Soon.
In 2022-23, when transgender advocates urged the Fairfax County School Board to eliminate gender-separate sex-ed classes for boys and girls, 84% of the community opposed the idea in a public survey. The School Board therefore ducked the issue and didn’t vote on it. Nonetheless, FCPS administrators thereafter quietly decided to proceed with a version of the proposal via a “pilot program” in 14 elementary and middle schools, as previously reported here.
With the 2024-25 school year upon us, the program will be implemented soon. Parents/caregivers will have the right to “opt out” their children from the unisex classes, but unless they are alert and take affirmative action, their kids will be enrolled automatically in the unpopular classes. This is the “default option.” FCPS administrators are anticipating that a sizeable percentage of parents won’t focus on the issue and that, by default, a false aura of popularity for same-sex classes in elementary and middle schools will be created.
What Are the “Pilot Program” Schools?
In order to keep its plans under the radar for as long as possible, FCPS has not publicly announced the identity of the schools in which the pilot program will be implemented, but a list has just been obtained via the Freedom of Information Act. Here is the list:
Elementary Schools:
- Beech Tree (West Falls Church)
- Camelot (Annandale)
- Centreville (Centreville)
- Clermont (Rose Hill)
- Hutchison (Herndon),
- Lake Anne (Reston)
- Lynbrook (Springfield)
- Mantua (Mantua)
- Terra Centre (Burke)
- Wakefield Forest (Annandale)
Middle Schools:
- Cooper (McLean)
- Frost (Fairfax)
- Liberty (Clifton)
- Mark Twain (Rose Hill)
If you have a child in any of these schools, or if you know parents/caregivers who do, it is very important to be alert and to take appropriate action, as described below.
What Classes Are Included in the “Pilot”?
The pilot program for unisex sex-ed will include two classes for each of Grades 5 through 8:
- Grade 5: Lessons on Abstinence and Refusal Skills, and Sexually Transmitted Infections
- Grade 6: Lessons on Human Reproduction, and Sexually Transmitted Infections
- Grade 7: Lessons on Reproductive Systems, and Sexually Transmitted Infections
- Grade 8: Lessons on Abstinence, and Contraception
Other lessons in the Family Life Education curriculum for these grades will continue to be gender-separate during the pilot program.
What Are the Options?
FCPS will notify parents/caregivers that they have three options. The first is for the new “gender combined” classes; the other two are the options that have existed up until now.
- Option 1: Gender-combined classes. This is what the children will be enrolled in if parents take no action, i.e., the “default option.”
- Option 2: Gender-separate classes. Parents/caregivers must affirmatively notify FCPS that they want this, or their children will be enrolled in Option 1.
- Option 3: Opt out of the classes altogether: Again, affirmative action is required.
I have not been able to learn when FCPS will send letters or emails to notify parents about the pilot program and the options under it. (It’s possible that some of the 14 schools have already done so.) The timing may vary school-by-school. Presumably, parents will be given a deadline for responding. So, it’s important to be on the lookout for any relevant communications from the school system, and to respond appropriately.
One other important note: I do not believe FCPS’s response form will be worded to allow parents to say, “I want my son to be enrolled only in the gender-separate boys’ class” or “I want my daughter to be enrolled only in the gender-separate girls’ class.” Under FCPS policy — which is in defiance of Virginia state law — a biological boy can decide that he wants to identify as a girl, and a biological girl can decide that she wants to identify as a boy, without their parents’ knowledge. Thus, as described in a document I have obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, if a parent chooses Option 2, above, the child can theoretically decide to participate in the gender-separate class of the opposite gender, and, unless the child consents, this choice will be kept secret from the child’s parents! I would advise parents who object to this and who choose Option 2 to write in on the response form: “I want my son to be enrolled in the gender-separate classes for boys” (or vice versa for daughters).
Publicity Is Important!
FCPS is attempting to sneak in a highly divisive and controversial program quietly, and it is trying to maximize participation by making gender-combined sex-ed the “default option.” The administration claims that an option for attending gender-combined classes fosters “inclusiveness” for the tiny minority of students who don’t want to choose between the two gender-separate boys’ and girls’ classes. But, even if one assumes that gender-combined is a worthwhile, additional option, FCPS could have accommodated the minority who want it by allowing them to “opt in” to gender-combined classes. It did not need to create a scheme by which the majority — who object to gender-combined — have the burden of opting out of a system that only a few people want.
FCPS is attempting to ignore the will of its citizens. To combat this, parents must be alert, not only for their own children, but must attempt to spread the word to friends and neighbors.
In addition to opting out of the gender-combined classes, citizens can voice their concerns in other ways as well, such as by letters to the School Board, letters to the editors of news media, and speaking up at School Board meetings. A substantial group of Muslim parents did this at a recent School Board meeting. The citizen-defying actions of the Board and FCPS administrators can only be defeated by publicity and combined action.
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I’ve said it once (or ten times), but I’ll say it again. Not all heros wear capes. I can’t tell you much your work is appreciated Mark!
My school is on the list. I’ll spread the word.
On a related note. 5th grade seems a bit early for these topics in general… Is this industry standard across the state/nation? I don’t remember learning about these topics until middle school. I’m a 40 year old product of new jersey public schools for what it’s worth.
Justin: Thanks. I agree with you that sex education is too explicit at too early an age, but I really don’t know what is done elsewhere in the nation in comparison to Fairfax County.
Mark
With some children getting pregnant at age 12 and other homeschooled young adults I’ve met in college long ago not knowing what’s what about their bodies and the risks associated health-wise, even if I were a parent of one of the pilot schools I would not opt my children out even with option 2. Ignorance isn’t the solution, and home schooling still is an ultimate option if you don’t want the government teaching your children things you don’t want them to know or values you don’t agree with (as is option 3 above which has always been an option as far as I can remember).
Chris: I appreciate your perspective, and I agree that in today’s world, some sex education should be offered through the school system to parents who want it for their kids. The points I have tried to make in my last posting, and in some prior ones, are not at odds with what you are saying. My points are: (1) in constructing a sex-ed curriculum, FCPS should take account of what most parents believe to be appropriate, and shouldn’t just cater to a tiny minority that is pursuing a radical agenda, and (2) that if FCPS wanted to offer combined-gender classes to the small minority who want such classes, it could and should have allowed parents to “opt in” to that alternative, rather than imposing that choice on parents who don’t understand, or take the time to understand, that their kids will be enrolled in the unwanted classes unless they affirmatively “opt out.” I also stated my belief that it is outrageous for FCPS to have a policy, contrary to Virginia law, that a boy can attend the girls’ class without notifying his parents.
Mark
I just emailed FLE a very similar question as to why the opt-in isn’t for the much smaller minority… doubt they’ll respond (I was told my an admin they are instructed not to answer parent emails about any touchy topics)
Alexis: Thanks for questioning what the school system is doing. They will probably ignore your question or give a non-substantive answer, but it’s worthwhile for more and more people to let them know that folks are watching and questioning what they do.
Mark
Mark, the key, key word in this issue is “default”…Devious indeed.
Keep up the good fight. I’m proud to say I grew up with such a courageous soldier.
Dick: Thanks.
Mark
Thank you Mark for all you do to inform the citizens and parents with kids in FCPS about the shenanigans of FCPS. “Opting in” should be the norm.
Folks, please be aware of this important conference on education law and policy:
______
https://fedsoc.org/conferences/2024-education-law-policy-conference
VA Gov. Youngkin Announced As Luncheon Speaker! Education Law & Policy Conference – September 11, 2024
2024 Education Law & Policy Conference
A New Civil Rights Movement in Education?
Luncheon Speaker Announced!
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Governor of Virginia
Conference Details
2024
Education Law & Policy Conference
A New Civil Rights Movement in Education?
—
Wednesday, September 11, 2024
Co-Sponsored by the Defense of Freedom Institute
for Policy Studies
The Third Annual Education Law & Policy Conference will examine the legal and policy issues facing education in the United States. This year’s conference will center on the theme: “A New Civil Rights Movement in Education?”
The conference will take place on Wednesday, September 11, 2024, at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. and will feature a full day of programming, including panels, addresses, lunch, and a closing reception.
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Panel Topics
The State of Civil Rights on Campus
Title IX: Gender Identity and So Much More
Race & Education after Students for Fair Admissions
Discussion on the Right: Parental Rights in Education
Speakers Announced to Date
Luke Berg, Deputy Counsel, Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty
Vernadette R. Broyles, President and General Counsel, Child & Parental Rights Campaign
Mark Chenoweth, President and Chief Legal Officer, New Civil Liberties Alliance
Dean Todd J. Clark, Dean and Professor of Law, Widener University Delaware Law School
Charles C. W. Cooke, Senior Editor, National Review
Dean andré douglas pond cummings, Dean and Professor of Law, Widener University Commonwealth Law School
William A. Estrada, Senior Counsel, Home School Legal Defense Association
Ben Gibson, Partner, Shutts & Bowen LLP
Hon. Harriet Hageman, U.S. Representative, Wyoming
Candice Jackson, Partner, Jackson Bone LLP; Former Acting Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Education
Prof. KC Johnson, Professor of History, Brooklyn College
Prof. Richard D. Kahlenberg, Director of the American Identity Project, The Progressive Policy Institute; Professorial Lecturer, George Washington University
Hon. Steven Menashi, United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
Cameron T. Norris, Partner, Consovoy McCarthy PLLC
Scott Schneider, Owner, Schneider Education & Employment Law PLLC
Ilya Shapiro, Director of Constitutional Studies, Manhattan Institute
Alison Somin, Senior Legal Fellow, Pacific Legal Foundation
Thomas S. Vaseliou, Associate, Consovoy McCarthy
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Conference (Member)–$25
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