Loudoun Co. School Board Meeting

001we had a revolution so no we will remove those who continue to act like kings and queens until we once again restore this community and this Commonwealth to the birthplace of freedoman Kumar devil apali everyone um I'm here to discuss on the resoning of the hotland um you know taking away from the Blue Zone so um I just want to make sure you know uh we were like you know in the Bramton and we are suddenly moved to the the you know the John champage zone so I mean like I have kids like from middle school and Elementary so I cannot uh send my uh children to um the ameter for elementary and then middle school for medicine so I just want to request everyone to keep the the zoning as it is right up

002hotland um I that will make the you know all the families uh together within the brington community because I stay in bton I home in hotland thinking that will be under the BL zone so right now uh I think there's a zoning going on so probably I'm I'm requesting the board to considerer the zoning and then keep hotland within the IND Zone thank you Bruce St I do not see an attend by that name Marza hi everyone um I'm really really uh first grateful to lcps for conducting such a such an for doing such an amazing job last year um in unprecedented times you kept our children and their education first and foremost and as a parent I'm really appreciative of that I have a rising sixth grader and and a rising second grader um

003my main concern today for which I'm here is um obviously keeping my children children safe in the um in the event of this new Delta variant surge in uh for the the Corona virus my main concern is um my Elementary School child who's 7 years old um he will be required to wear a mask from um 8:00 to 2:30 the throughout the entirety of the day and I do understand that masks are an absolute necessary um uh you know re thing to wear but my only proposition for the uh for the school board is can you think of reducing the school timing for elementary school kids maybe from 8 to 12 so that they will be more comfortable and they would be able to have a more um effective efficient school time I would really

004appreciate if the board gave some sort of um thinking to this uh proposition thank you Joe Darden I do not see an attended by that name k kale I do not see attendee by that name Shel SL 517 that's how many days it has been since our children have experienced a normal school day the lcps school board and administration changed the entire education structure in the names of covid equity and politics an lcps equity training slide stated that teachers have a special role to teach academics the statement should have sto there the teacher is not the second Mo mother and it is not their job to inoculate morals upon announcing Ziggler the superintendent Jeff Moore said we have facts we have figures we went back and forth but we could not make a decision until

005he stepped in it is apparent that the board has no problem hiring a person that was known to contribute to the lcps deas starting with his HR Ro creating a shut up policy for the teachers but toer research spent the summer pushing the Democratic agenda stating to me it's clear they're using our kids as a wedge issue for this November's election how are we creating this wedge you're the ones who have made the decisions in gave a personal statement at the June board meeting that appeared to be sincere but it was clearly posturing thank you I help us game wor signatures for your recall best Bart's participating remotely today is a clear indication that she has no interest in hearing from the public she is not inclusive of representing her cons constituents when her Facebook

006blog is closed for comment yes she places the same post and evidence group that supports her and lets them Chim in it is time for this board to ask her to resign she's a detriment to the entire Community Brenda tomorrow's your day when policy 8040 passes will you rush or gavel and approve up the cheer in the room will the board get up and leave for this disruption or will you sit and smile among the upor as your pet project has finally been passed it's time to stop the lies and put the children first your decisions have a lasting effect on the children long after the last bell rings let the teachers teach in the parents parents 517 days it shouldn't be one day longer recall this Bo Gordon shankman good afternoon thank you for

007the opportunity to speak virtually it shows you do understand the need to mitigate the risks of Co unfortunately you don't seem to want to extend the same courtesy to our students particularly those in elementary and middle school who cannot yet be vaccinated while we now have a mandate in place for masks it seems it was only done because it was required by the governor the superintendent has indicated that contrary to CDC guidance PE classes even indoors would make a good mask break and therefore masks are optional in a class where our kids will be breathing heavier and harder than anywhere else they don't need a mask break they need a safe and healthy learning environment in June we asked our kids what they thought about the upcoming year they were excited to go back to

008school but our 7-year-old brought up one major concern what do we do about about lunch indoor dining we know without masks a huge spreader of Co so repeat his question what do we do about lunch we've asked what lcps is doing we've suggested Solutions such as repurposing the gym or outdoor tents but the response we've gotten back is silence either no response at all from the board or the administration or a non-response from our principal saying we're waiting on guidance from the administration this is unacceptable these discussions cannot continue to happen in the dark if they're occurring at all the only logical conclusion we as parents can come to is there is no plan we are continuing to fly by the seet of our pants even though we've had over 18 months to come up

009with plans and strategies we need to answer the lunch questions so we can talk about hallway traffic contract tracing quarantine rules we have 16 days until school starts 16 we as parents demand that you act now and detail a comprehensive plan to implement CDC guidelines and provide a safe and healthy learning environment for our children thank you Mohamed G the speaker is unmuted Mohamad gos it is your turn to speak are you you hearing anything Aaron I hear background noise Moab I'm GNA ask you to start speaking and we'll have to move to the next speaker right Robert riby hello I am a teacher as a child I learned in schools in Scouts in church that lgbtq people were mostly pedopiles so I would do anything to change for 20 years I was in conversion

010therapy uh and reparative therapies shock treatments talk groups prayer groups finally I was meeting with a a Baptist preacher who was also a psychologist and after six months he said Robert you've changed my mind God made you the way you are and God loves you the way you are and it it it changed my life um the youth survey in Virginia that that 90% of kids say saids that about one in six uh uh secondary students say they are lgbtq one in six when you asked mon that means that of all people here of all politics of all Races of all religions of all genders one in six of those kids are lgbtq whatever you think whatever you have learned know that God made your children the way they are and God loves your children

011the way they are please love them too thank you Laura sorry Laura lson hi my name is Laura Larson and I'm a lifelong lden resident parent of a recent graduate and a junior at Freedom High School first I want to express my strong support of policy 840 which will extend protections to our vulnerable lgbtq students who too often are at very at risk for depression and suicide second I want to express my strong support of the equality measures lcps is undertaking to better serve our minority students third I want to thank you for requiring masks in school and ask that more consideration be given to making lunchtime more safe for students for instance using gyms and outdoor areas to allow kids to be farther apart while they're eating last I want to express my concern

012about policy 5030 which would lead to a single test grade carrying too much weight for our students thank you for the opportunity to speak and for all the hard work that's going into trying to keep our children safe to continue their excellent education at lcps Jack Ryan I do not see an attended by that name April Chandler hi my name is April Chandler I'm sorry we're having a terrible thunderstorm in the alanan district so hopefully I'm coming through GL C year um I live in alanan and I'm a parent of two lcps parent or students I'm speaking today in favor of policy 840 and of all the efforts made by this Bo and lcps to make our Public Schools more Equitable every student should be treated with respect and kindness Public Schools should be safe

013spaces for everyone safe spaces for children who are transgender or non-binary safe spaces for children who have historically been mistreated in our district thank you for taking on the work needed to ensure that black and brown children in our district are treated with dignity and respect in our schools please continue this work especially the work of including more diverse perspectives in the history curriculum Equity work is truly child centered it ensures that each child is valued as an individual accepted cherished and respected no one in public school should be less than made to fit or comply with one Norm or standard I want that for my children and I want it for every student in lcps thanks for the work that you're doing I know it's been a tough year um but I appreciate all

014of your hard work and I'm grateful that you're representing our family thank you Alex Bennett thank you members of the school board and Dr zler for allowing me to speak in front of you my name is Alex SP I'm a resident of leberg I'm also a social science teacher at woodr high school and a volunteer firefighter in leberg my dedication to my family and Community is my number one priority and I feel it being threatened first I want to commend the efforts of the school board Dr zth Al Al excuse me for fighting against the injust Faith regarding Equity within our school system you will hear or have heard countless ignorant opinions from citizens speaking out against Equity as a teacher I'm thankful that most of the school board has not given up do not

015let the voices of the mob deter you away from the mission of lcps equality feels like an attack when privilege is all one knows the anti-crt rhetoric spun in these meetings is a discre most of the people arguing do not know or have a grasp of what CRT is and since the county is not teaching CRT their arguments are pointless every person has a right to their own identity their identity shapes the way they see themselves and others it is not our job to decide how a student wants to be identified it is their choice as Educators parents and elected officials our only job is to protect that identity even when Society does not agree in closing I reference a quote from Judge learn hand Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women when

016it dies there no Constitution no law no court can save it the spirit of Liberty is a spirit which is not too sure that it is right the spirit of Liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand in the minds of other men and women the spirit of Liberty is the spirit which weighs their interests alongside its own without bias I want to commend the school board Dr Ziggler and lcps for all your hard work thank you and I know it's been a struggle and I'm here to support you in policy 840 gazala I do not see T by that name Chris Candace tuck good evening on behalf of equality allow and hundreds of members I would like to thank the school board for their tireless efforts and commitment to equity for our students and

017for your diligent work on Crafting policy ad40 this process has been open fair and transparent providing residents to blad County with appful time to provide input and request feedback from their duly elected represent of this we also understand and want to reinforce the requirement from the Commonwealth of Virginia that these policies are mandatory and must be passed before the start of this next school year but more importantly policy 840 is the regulation that is sorely needed to protect the transgender and non-binary students of our County these students deserve our respect and our admiration for their bravery and N navigating these challenges in a complex time they should be held up as examples of perseverance and often deserve our highest respect they deserve every opportunity to feel safe and affirmed in achieving an exemplary education that

018Lowden county is so well known for we highly encourage you to pass policy 840 and hold lden County Public Schools to a 21st century commitment to respect diversity inclusion equity and equality for all thank you and I also have Lindsay Olivia and Sebastian here we weren't able to sign on on four different I apologize so I don't know if they can speak through this as well they are all signed up individually so we'll go with Lindsay tuck next thank you gender students transgender students deserve equal protections and access to An Education Without Fear discrimination please support policy 840 I appreciate all of the school board does thank you Olivia t as a student I support transgender students I think everyone deserves to be treated everyone deserves love ever thank you for all that you do

019and make our school safe and fair thank you Sebastian tuck thank you for all you thank you cherelle [Music] Ashwell sorry hi I'm Charelle aswell I am a former lcps parent and a current secondary teacher I've been a high school teacher for seven years and a drastic decline in twoth grad accountability and drive is alarming each year expect have been lowered and students adjust and do less we keep moving the bll post we should be working to get our students to reach the goals keeping high expectations encourages hard work and drive our students can do it I'm asking you to review the lcps grading policy for secondary students for both middle and high school I'm asking you to survey students parents and teachers to develop a sound grading policy this past year was an absolute

020mess when it comes to the grading Poli policy the red flag should is the overly complicated spreadsheet that was asked of Staff if it takes a spreadsheet to figure out the number of assignments grad percentages and it's too much talk about making an already messy situation work keep it simple and we can all get on board suggestions that were given by other staff members and myself all secondary classes should use a 100 Point rating system formative assignment should be automatically weighted in Phoenix to 10% actual grade should be assigned for all assignments the 54 grade should be used for quarters one two and three late assignments students work hard for their due dates they verbalize they need these we need to get behind them and support them in this retakes need to be given at

021below as 70% and must meet teacher requirements reation test corrections we're making a situation that doesn't need to be made we need to keep our grade books simple so they can be understood by parents by students and by staff thank you Canal Taylor I do not see an attendee by that name Brenda bangston hi I'm Brenda bson I'm a retiree and thankful for L teachers who believe beli in me who inspired me I'm a proud graduate of brn high school thanks for your work and responsiveness and thanks for the variety of methods that you allowed for public comment today please continue your commitment to support equity and diversity please encourage teachers and students to confront biases about racial and lgbtq issues some want you to cancel discussions of systemic racism cancel free speech by Banning

022books and cancel students rights to express themselves freely without fear of discrimination some want to cancel being welcoming to all Lowden students and cancel decorum in public meetings please don't a favorite quote of mine please think of the children first if you ever have anything to do with their entertainment their food their toys their custody their day or night care their health care their education listen to the children learn about them learn from them think of the children first that's by Fred Rogers let's be intentionally invit inviting to all Lou students this share knowing that we might have that liberty and justice for all someday Kelly Wagner I do not see an attendee by that name Ren Wilson hi there uh my name is Ren and I'm a non-binary college student I'm also the chair

023of the Virginia ycl here representing the Communist Party of Virginia as a non-binary student myself with many trans non-binary and gender fluid peers I can imagine the impact that it would have if my school were to disrespect and ignore my identity that is why I'm here to encourage you to support bill ad40 in order to support transgender and gender non-conforming rights in your school the top cause of death in children's school age is suicide and the risk of suicid has increased exponentially among young lgbtq plus folks this risk goes up the less support that they get from family friends and institutions around them voting yes on Bill 840 will give the youth the support that they need to carry on and feel safe in their own schools and in their own skin thank you for

024Margo I do not see an attended by that name Naru m do not see an attendee by that name Patricia calwell Wilson I am here go ahead Dr Ziggler members of the board my name is Patricia cell Wilson and I'm here in support of collective bargaining collective bargaining allows educational professionals a voice in education that has been missing in Virginia for too long teachers working conditions are the same as students learning conditions the lack of input in respect of the terms and conditions of wages hours of work working conditions benefits training health safety and grievance procedures find us seeking solutions to problems I never thought I would see as an educator most of our Educators and educational support professionals are residents and parents right here in L hostility between the board parents and teachers is

025the last thing our students need at a time when a pandemic has rough so much isolation death sickness and mental suffering on us all a vote in favor of collective bargaining is a win-win for all parties involved especially our students thank you Lisa Bo I do not attended by that name Leslie dwire good afternoon I'm speaking as mother of three ltps children in support of policy 840 I'm also speaking as a grieving sister two weeks ago I buried my transgender brother he suffered a lifetime of intolerance and bullying first in public school and later in the workplace tragically these experiences led directly to long-standing trauma and ultimately suicide I'm speaking here tonight speaking from the depths of my heart to tell you that intolerance against trans and non-binary students should not be a matter for

026political gamesmanship by outside interests with no connection to our schools intolerance is not about politics it is about basic human rights and dignity intolerance destroys lives it destroys families it leavs long standing scars on our community no child should have to endure what my brother endured in his memory and for the future of all our children please come down on the right side of history and on the side of the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia and support policy 840 and to all our trans and non-binary lcps students we love you you are beautiful and perfect just as you are thank you all to the school board for all of your hard work on this issue thanks a sh t hi this the division of plan Services L County Public School um thank you for

027giving this to take oning hotland Community Heartland Community has been in plan of construction since more than years and we plann our kids future accordingly by paying more than the amount of dollars that we can afford only offic considering the B left of schools which were inurance plan so we are deeply disappointed at this move as we are moving all the way from Midland State into hland commune based on this initial planning of bam and Independence High School clusters which were very adjacent to the hland committee and it will be hard on families um of this new um hotland committee to send far away schools than literally addent schools so we humbly request you to keep hland committee as the within the B and high school clust as man thank you [Music] prian I do

028not Atty by that name Michael Miller I do not see ATT by that name n yeah I hope I'm I see some St actually I'm here to express my opinion about the school region proposal for the homes on Road North in Arland it has been proposed OS of region in these schools forl to all the John champ and Mer School cluster but but we believe the homes on food Road are close toing High School cluster so I would like to request the to stop this proposal and continue hotline homes on the North to continue under the bton cluster is a new community and the hom have started first quar of the seat of this year and homes in hotland community has been assigned Toton schools when we signed up from the home um and it

029seems like it's unfair and and to commute toward 50 while we are close to bton schools that's my strong believe that many families are facing this and taking it hard um thank you for considering our request and ging opportunity to to express our opinion here I hope this proposal will be stopped thank you s n I do not see an attendee by that name Frankie sers I do not by that name Karina M mtha hello uh yes but can you speak up a little bit it's very quiet hello can you hear me now go ahead hello go ahead okay good evening my name is karuna mutala I'm a parent of two lcps students and a current resident of Bron community and would be a future president of Heartland Community coming this November I have two

030boys a raising first grader and a raising sixth grader I'm here to share my concern about the Heartland schooling school resoning to mer medal and joh trap instead of uh keeping it as ease in rilton middle and independent high schools currently me being a resident of rambleton town center area I see and Love convenience of of how all the three schools are strategically placed next to each other a very convenient feature and a very good selling point of the area because of which we really are paying a premium prices for having to live here just for the sake of sending our kids to a very highly rated school areas I'm here today to raise my concern about the proposed resoning proposal we are moving to Heartland in November and if the middle school and the

031high schools have moved to Ali section commute is not going to be practical to just drop and pick K up each on a daily basis if one kid goes to Tramon and other go to the ald section it's going to be very difficult and very challenging on the parents to juggle their schedules just to pick up and drop off kids on a places we would like to be part of rabto school cluster which totally makes sense to us looking at the close proximity to the locations that hotland is situated and just as our immediate neighboring communities like Willow Port Grant and Nicholas Farms are currently Jack Martinez hello my name is Jack Martinez and I'm a LA County student here to give one students's perspective on Schoolboard policy 8040 regarding the transgender regulations as well

032as proequity education as per state mandate I'm not a member of the lgbtq plus community and therefore my commentary will not be as influential as those who have lived these experiences so I'm a concerned friend and a citizen of the county interested in ensuring that the next generation of students are uniquely equi to face the challenges of this world on the first day of school work when you have a sub a teacher will ask the class if students want to go by a nickname and I'll usually raise my hand my legal name is John but parents family and friends called me Jack when I ask to go by a different name nobody questions this no teacher makes me explain why I choose to go by that different name and disrupt my education as well as

033the education of those around me yet for transgender students is an entirely different reality they're often asked to justify their being they their education as well as the education of those around it is disrupted as they exist in environment the Supreme Court case Tinker B de Moy states that government can regulate any activity that disrupts the education of students about 840 the education of transgender individuals and their fears will be constantly disrupted the teachers are willing to call me Jack rather than John they should be willing to call a student he rather than she I encourage the board to adopt 840 and protect the sanctity of all students education as well as ensure that lcps can receive an ed lcps students excuse me can receive an education that gives them the tools to make this

034nation a better place thank you Alonso narez hi uh it's going to be hard to follow up uh that one I really appreciate the student who uh just provide that articulate and sound argument for 840 but I give it a try uh first off I want to thank uh the school board members tremendously for all of the hard work and difficult decisions that you've had had to make over the past 18 months and um uh and that includes those who I didn't agree with on on different issues this is just a really tough time to uh be in a position like the ones that you are in and I really appreciate it I also want to talk though about how these kinds of scenarios whether the we're talking the extreme ones like the pandemic has

035put us in or whether we're talking about uh curriculum and talking about uh the enforcement of policies like 840 how valuable a tool collective bargaining can be uh these threats these nonsensical threats about recalls uh future elections all those things could be nullified by having a system where you negotiate with the Educators who by the way are the experts on what goes on in the classroom how to make sure lunchrooms or LUN lunch environments are safe uh how to make sure that curriculum is accurate and fact- based and teaching children the values that we all share As Americans um these things can be supported by the collective bargaining process uh I am a huge supporter of 840 my son is 16 years old he's a senior uh he's trans and he's fearless and Fierce and

036I love him very much and um he may not need protection but I know how many students need that protection in this school district and I urge you to support 840 and I urge you to support collective bargaining which can help you get through Times Like These thank you all so much Christopher Michael yes good afternoon good afternoon um so been trying to figure out what we want to say today um and just kind of come up with a couple of loose ideas um first I've been following this this critical theory debate for quite some time for for anyone to say that the people that oppose critical theory in schools are trying to state that we don't want to actually teach about racism and slavery in this country is pure fiction um in fact I

037in the circle that I've made it's quite the opposite we do want to teach about all the evil and ugliness in this country but we don't want to make slavery and racism the foundational elements of everything that we teach right and that is that is what critical a theory wants to do right and for those that say we don't know what it is trust us we know what it is we've been spending the time putting in the work Brenda um so we do know that culturally responsive teaching culture responsive education whatever framework you want to call it it is rooted 100% in CRT and and in critical theory that is undeniable that is beyond dispute you can look at all of the authors we're reading the journal so let's also be clear Equity does not

038mean equality it's it's actually the polar opposite and and you all know that which is why you've had problems in the past defining what some of these terms mean as far as what white supremacy means I would like to have the school board please put out a definition I would love to hear in your terms what white supremacy means I think that you owe that to the taxpayers and to the parents to understand what you believe that means um and Fin I just want everybody to understand that the way that this has all come about has been through laundering of of faulty work through the academy um one of the prim examples is people just look up in Google griev studies and you'll see that they actually rewrote mine comp using feminist Theory and it

039was approved scholarship Z wise I do not see an attend You by that name Zachary parowski yeah when I was student here in lden um you know a little longer ago than I to admit every day on the first every year on the first day of school the teacher would go down the roster this chat do you prefer Z or Z Anon Christopher oh do you your M name nice to meet you Tyler and they make little notes in their grade book and they learn our names it's respect one one and it was a key part of building a good student teacher relationship as a current L taxpayer and voter I don't see why it should be any different today if someone Nam Brenda wants to go by Brandon and socially transition they should be

040allowed to trans rights to Human Rights and trans kids are du just as much respect as anyone else if teachers can't treat their students with respect that's not a First Amendment issue it's a job performance issue thank you for your time Mary Clancy I do not see an attendee by that name okay board members that completes the virtual um speakers for this evening that had signed up and we are going to move to our inperson ask staff to indicate that they're ready in the hallway great our first inperson speaker is Nicholas ga good evening uh frankly this is a little weird I'll be completely honest with you guys um I've been doing public comment for the last four years since I was a lden County Public School student um and I was 17 advocating for

041queer rights um here I am having graduated college um moved back here to L plan to start a family L still advocating for queer rights here in L County um I think we're cutely aware of how odd the air feels in here and out there and in Lowden so tonight I just want to say thank you I've seen the emails that you guys get I see what social media says about my home my school district and it's exhausting for for me God knows what it's like for you guys uh it's dangerous it's disheartening it's so easy for people to manipulate to fabricate and I'm sure it's far from what any of you had imagined this would be like when you ran for school board you are in every sense the word public servants as someone

042who votes every year who pays attention who does public comment I appreciate the constituent Outreach that you do do the listening that you do and the work that you do to make our school system better for our students I know it's not been easy God knows if it's going to get easier so I want to take the time tonight as the first person of inperson public comment to say thank you that I support policy 840 and I support our transgender students and I hope that we are able to pass this policy and protect our kids thank you Amber bether yeah this is going to take some getting used to uh hi my name is Amber Beer and I'm a board member of the transgender Education Association of Greater Washington or tge EA I'm also an

043lcps alumna and a former substitute teacher some of you on the board might remember uh the first time I ever spoke at any school board meeting was in this room 3 years ago and I spoke for the same reasons I am speaking today encouraging you all to support policies that are inclusive of transgender students and to show your support for transgender students and transgender faculty I first started speaking at school board meetings when I met a mother of a transgender girl who graduated her daughter graduated from the same high school I did and she was terrorized and bullied for being transgender and so I spoke and I sh and I shared my own experiences and urged you all to support and I was very happy that in February of 2019 you all uh the school

044board at the time did vote in support and now it is very important that you P that you support and adopt policy 840 the that is consistent with both the general assembly law but also is consistent with supporting the identities of transgender students supported by the American Medical Association the American Psychological Association the American Academy of Pediatrics and other organizations this isn't pseudo science this isn't some sort of ideology these are people's lives this is civil rights and I encourage you all to please adopt this policy and I just want to thank all the people out there who are supporting who are waving the transgender flag and the lgbtq plus flag there's a lot of talk of Love at the last meeting of like oh well I don't hate love well the only love that

045I feel are from the people who are in support and speaking out and supporting me as I speak on policy 8040 thank you Julia H excuse me is it two minutes it's two minutes isn't it thank you thank you my name is Julia hul I've lived here for 10 years in Le B and before that I was in Fairfax since 1988 I'm a teacher excuse me is it two minutes it's two minutes isn't it thank you thank you my name is Julia hul I've lived here for 10 years in lesburg and before that I was in Fairfax since 1988 I'm a teacher I teach at the college level at George Mason University although I do not speak for Mason today I speak for all of the children and teachers here who have been told they

046don't belong because they belong to the lgbtq community it's a message they're getting and it is a toxic one it is a dangerous one and the most important thing I can say besides that I support policy 840 and I support those of you who support policy 84 40 you are having a very tough time and I appreciate you and what you're doing more than I can possibly say because it cannot be easy I was here June 22nd I know just how not easy it can get and I value you more than I can say but every single child and teacher whatever their color whatever their gender identification whoever they are has a right to to feel that they belong at the Lowden County Public Schools and not be driven out by hate or misunderstanding or

047falsehoods because sooner or later the child of one of those people out there who are swearing up and down that there's boys and there's girls and that you cannot possibly mix them up is to have trouble being there for them thank you very much for being there for all of us Josh head good evening my name is Josh hler I'm the legal counsel for the founding freedoms Law Center I think all of you probably know about the lawsuit that we filed recently against the Department of Education against the transgender model policies unfortunately we found out recently that the the judge thinks that not even parents with children in school who were a part of the process did not have standing to to challenge that but I want to tell you about a couple of good

048things uh that came out of that case that we believe are good things and the first thing is that the attorney general made clear in the hearing that school school boards will be in no danger of losing funding if they do not adopt these transgender policies and uh secondly uh we found out that uh in the judge's opinion he clarified that these were merely guidance and that therefore the implication being that uh school boards need not follow all of these that they're mere guidance instead of Regulation but one of the things that did not occur in this lawsuit because uh it was thrown out on standing Grounds was that none of the arguments were heard on the merits so all of the Constitutional claims and the state and federal statutes that were claimed but particularly

049the Constitutional claims of free speech free exercise of religion due process uh parental rights uh and the others have not been decided so I want to caution this board against passing any policies today or tomorrow that would jeopardize or infringe upon those rights of students parents uh and teachers many of which you've heard about uh because if you do I I want you to be prepared the lawsuits are coming maybe from us maybe from others but we're going to be here protecting children's rights protecting parents' rights and teachers rights much like Tanner R so I hope you will keep that in mind as you vote tonight and thank you for your time sh muu good evening I come here as a former student of the ladden County Public School System assistant that has given me

050incredible opportunities but also brought a lot of pain because of what I've experienced and witnessed I've hope you've brought Open Hearts and Minds here today to listen to someone that may have a different perspective than you the reason I'm here is to discuss the false rhetoric and misinformation that has been spread here regarding critical race Theory and how racism continues to exist in the school system today I am a woman of color but I still have privileges because of the way I look I'm not here to get on my high horse or shame anyone because I'm not perfect either and I'm always learning to what want what I'm trying to do is to call you in no one is blaming you for what your ancestors or your predecessors did but the truth is being born

051in this country means you are inherently racist or biased the information we are fed through the media and movies we watch the books we read how we see black and brown people portrayed unconsciously affects the how we see each other it's on us to dismantle those biases but unless we talk about it in an honest and uncomfortable way we won't see this change people in power need to work to heal the wounds of this country it's hard work and it takes stepping out of your comfort comt and shame and into the discomfort of some harsh truths and realities for real change to happen unless you actively seek out to connect to the humanity stories and experiences of people who don't look like you you will never be able to step out of your discomfort and

052see others in the entirety and fullness of their experience because not everyone is able to move through the world with the freedom a cisgender white male is able to to truly begin to understand the nuances of race relations in this country today we have to make a conscious effort to listen to those voices who have been silenced time and time again we need to decenter whiteness and recognize that at the center of racial inequity work is empathy compassion and love but sometimes love means confronting the ugly history of our country in its entirety and we can start by creating conversations and spaces for these conversations in the Lor V good evening my name is laori AA and I'm a Lowden County parent of five children I have my two youngest with me this evening Virginia

053code 1- 24.1 States and I quote a parent has a fundamental right to make decisions concerning the upbringing Education and Care of the parent's child end quote the proposed transgender changes interfere with this parent child relationship as school Personnel are forced to affirm a child's transgender identity at school without parental consent or notification I do teach my children to love everyone I have beloved family members who are part of the lgbtq community so this does impact me many people wrongly equate honest disagreement to hatred they're not the same it is love and science which demand we not lie to young children and call a biological girl a boy and vice versa according to Deborah so in the Pacific Standard research shows most young children demonstrating gender dysphoria naturally acclimate to their biological sex later in

054life as an adolescent policies 840 and 8350 user parental rights compel speech and violate religious freedom for those people of Faith who disagree and deny biological sex thank you Jackie van waty Ryan Mooney if I might have a moment just before I get in um to say I appreciate that all of you are here um Miss Brenda I've gone to school with your son Kyle I worked with him I know you raised him well but that's not why I'm here today I'm here today because I'm worried about the future of our kids I'm worried about the the the people and the the policies and the impact this that these series of policies can have as someone who was growing up and went to parkvi high school and graduated went on to UVA I've seen so

055many people slip through the cracks and the policies that we're proposing today and accepting is that sexual identity and everything going on our life is the way we are we're destined to be right the idea that you can't grow that there people don't have to struggle to find identity but that's what life is it's about growing through all the hard times I look at my little brothers and I'm reminded things I've gone through I remind as a 13-year-old boy I was molested I REM the fact my little brothers me every day and I want the best for them I don't want the sexual predators to slip through the cracks or what this these loopholes and these policies provide I want to love on these people love on the people that're finding their identity and I

056want them to know it it's going to be okay but the policies here today are tying the hands of parents te teachers and Friends of our kids and I didn't want to be here but I I owe it to Future Generations I would to them and I know his parents that that is your goal there's your duty in life is to raise your kids to do your best to protect them I would never want what happened to me to happen to anyone else but God I Won't Stand By and Watch another kid is taking advantage like I was no have no idea how much it take to be here refus thank you sir thank you I need you to yield the mic to the next speaker thank you Megan Jenkins I have a question for

057you ladies on the school board how would you like to go into a locker room right now where there is a naked man staring at you with an erection if the thought of that makes you uncomfortable it also makes my 12-year-old daughter uncomfortable if pass policy 8040 would allow boys and adult lcps male staff members to walk around naked in the girls locker rooms this is sick biological girls in lcps deserve safety and dignity in private spaces and policy 840 will cause girls tangible and emotional harm vote no to policy 8040 several counties in Virginia including Russell and Warren County have already voted no to a transgender policy the model policy issued by the state is not mandatory the judge that dismissed the vdoe lawsuit said that the model policy is only guidance and school

058boards can reject it without consequences most of you on the board either have a daughter or granddaughter in lcps please ask yourself how they would feel changing in front of a boy I have a feeling that by the way some of you voted on a similar Topic in May that you might be on the fence about policy 840 it is never too late to do the right thing and vote no to this also policy 840 goes against freedom of speech it is unconstitutional to force someone to use a pronoun that they do not agree with vote no to policy 840 Edie Menders it is so nice to be in front of you without a mask I'll first I'll start there but what I'd like to know is how did we get here how do we

059get to the point where we're fighting about what we believe is best for our children please remember that these are our children not your children we voted for you to represent us as parents we give our taxpayer money to you to wisely use to help our children masks can't you make it option can't you give the permission to each parent to choose what they feel is best for their child the transgender policy you want these transgender students which is roughly 38% of the entire student body to use the opposite sex bathrooms and play sports with the opposite gender what about the safety of those non-transgender girls what about the 81,000 students that are not transgender protecting our children Miss Barts I don't see you here here today but uh you said and made it very

060clear in a videotaped meeting that it was not your responsibility to protect our children how can you say such a thing you're supposed to represent all children you're supposed to protect every child culturally responsive training diversity Equity whatever you call it it's components of critical race Theory that's exactly what it is a theory can't we get back to academics can't we focus on teaching my junior in high school the basics of math science writing can't you help my son prepare for his future instead of teaching him to be a social justice Warrior it doesn't matter to my son what color the child sitting next to him in the classroom is or the color of the player on the football team with him is it matters that they respect each other and can have a great

061dialogue in the classroom without making them feel guilty or victimized because of the color of their skin I'm pleading with you to please put aside your aggressive ideologies and do what's best for all 81,000 of these lden County students put our children first Renee Camp I come in the name of Jesus and I come to make some proclamations God is not afraid of you and he sees you this is a bll that is out there and and this will not stand Jesus is Lord and every name Will bow down to that name I Break Every curse from Hell over the lcps right now in jesus' name I cast down imaginations that every High thing that brings that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and brings into captivity every thought and everything that you teach

062Into The Obedience of Christ CRT you will bow down to Jesus you you on the scoreboard you will bow down to Jesus I decree that the Ten Commandments will be taught in the schools all across America children will know that there are only two Sexes the Pledge of Allegiance will be recited every day in school our children will learn about the Constitution and American and the American true history and Revival will break out in the schools all across America I decree and declare that is happening children are a promise of God they are the seed of the righteous and they shall be delivered they are the cendant of Abram and they will defeat their enemies and if you do not repent right now you will be counted as one of those they will perform the

063signs and wonders from The Lord of hosts and I just want to add that God created man in his own image in the image of God created he him male and female created he him that's in Genesis 1:27 that you will be reading in the schools very soon and I decree that in jesus' name and God bless them and said unto them be fruitful and multiply and our children will and hb2 every parent go and look up HB 257 cuz that gives every principal the right not to report Emily Hart good afternoon my name is Emily Hart and I'm a former K through2 lcps student and a current lcps substitute teacher I've seen the classroom from both perspectives and I'm here to speak about the detrimental effects of implementing policy 8040 regarding transgender students there

064are other ways to prevent harassment and discrimination for individual students without implementing egregious systemwide policy changes this new policy would coers teachers to address students by their preferred pronouns with no exemptions with regard to the teachers religious convictions or the biological accuracy of the students request this compelled speech violates a First Amendment and would force teachers to act against their sincerely held religious beliefs furthermore this policy would Grant students with any gendere expansive identity to use the restrooms and Facilities of the opposite biological gender which can be very anxiety inducing for students who have suffered from sexual assault by using such broad vague language such as gender expansive that is not in any dictionary and not requiring any substantiating evidence from students there is no limit to what students can use which students can use

065which facilities and that would lead to abuses and confusion among students safety privacy and Security in bathrooms and locker rooms would be a thing of the past and most of all this policy reveals a complete disregard of science absolute truth and the fundamental well-being of students the moment we disregard the truth and coward to cultural Trends is the moment our children cannot trust their teachers or the legitimacy of what they're being taught the truth as well as the physical and mental safety of children must be the greatest priority of the school board with my remaining 30 seconds I'd like to call on all my friends that I know are watching at home and all the other Christians out there that don't know how to speak up or feel nervous too because if we allow our

066freedom of speech or freedom of expressing our religion to go now these policies will pass and once they're pass there's nothing we can do to stop it so if we compromise on these principles early on there's nothing we will be able to do in the future Our Father who are in heaven Hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those thank you please yield the mic Aon Dunbar just like to say thank you for her for saying that prayer that was nice um so I didn't make a speech tonight because honestly I'm kind of just at the point where I'm tired of saying the same things to you and you

067just don't listen um one thing for sure I want to mention though I find it absolutely disgusting that you allowed the 47 virtuals that are at home go before those of us that were sitting out in the heat advisory and lightning outside we all know why you did it and it's disgusting um as far as the fact that some of the board members could even bother to show up today that kind of shows you what they think of the parents in this County as well um um I'm not going to speak to Brenda and Scott because I know you you've proven to all of us you don't care what we have to say and you've proven to all of us you don't care about our kids because we beg for you to listen to us

068and you just completely ignore us I am speaking to John and Jeff because the two of you are last hope you two are the ones that have proven to us over the last year as we cried and begged and told you about our kids told you how we are not okay with boys being in the girls' bathroom that you're not comfortable with it too I'm just asking you to please be louder fight for us because you're the only voices we have here at this point until we get rid of the rest of the board but the two of you please are our hope we want to hear from you we're begging you to be firm on your beliefs and your stances for fighting the 840 and fighting the CRT and just do what's right please

069use your moral compass and fight for those of us that have been here speaking to you oneon-one for this whole time thank you Alicia brand I'm struggling with re-enrolling my kids in Lowden County Public School on one hand they need an education so that they can get into the schools of their choice so that they can be what they want to be when they grow up on the other hand they have suffered emotionally for the last 20 months and need to be with their peers in their public school I'm struggling because Len County Public School cannot give me both of those and now I have to make a choice and neither choice will give me a whole child I moved here eight years ago when this school system was a worldclass educational system the parents

070the teachers the administrators all work together for the benit of our children but now because of the decisions that all of you have made I don't believe that any child can get a quality education I do not believe that our children can thrive in the school system I have watched you over the past 18 months destroy a wonderful school system bring it back you all have the power to do that Ziggler we you're here do something help us help our children help the parents listen to us we don't have heat in our heart Jeff stand up stand up you're a good man do this for our children John thank you for standing up the rest of you I don't believe in you anymore you need to be closing 18 months 20 months of a learning

071loss our kids are walking into these classrooms with social anxiety and emotional challenges and you've done nothing except train teachers in cultural competency what about our kids come on let's heal this community together you're in the pos position to do it let's do it together thank you please yeld the mic Willow wonky hello School Board I'm Willow Walky she her hers board member of both the transgender Education Association of Greater Washington and FCPS Pride I'm a transgender woman and a facilitated group for parents of trans and non-binary teens and twins that focuses on ladden County first I want to say that I hope hope that all of us are here because we love and want what is best for our kids we want to keep kids safe from harm for a trans kid harm comes

072in a lot of forms it comes from people not listening to them as they do one of the most difficult tasks I can imagine for a child because I had to do it challenge your parents and others assumptions about you harm comes when a teacher or authority figure doesn't respect their gender harm comes when a child is afraid to talk to their family for fear of losing their family's love so they talk to a teacher who then outs them to the family harm comes when trans kids don't drink anything before or during school because they're afraid to use the restroom what harm do people fear from trans kids cisgender boys and girls have assaulted kids in restrooms in schools since school started regrettably and marginalized people are often the target of those assaults reduce harm

073protect trans kids pass policy 840 thank you Charlotte McConnell good evening my name is Charlotte McConnell and I am a parent of two lcps students and I live in Lowden County I am no stranger to this Schoolboard room I came into this room December 2016 and there were over a hundred people here to speak about Dr Brewer and adding gender identity and sexual orientation to our non-discrimination policy I was in the parking lot June 22nd and I have never been so scared in my life it breaks my heart what has happened to this school board and also to all of you sitting on the school board I helped elect a lot of you I knocked so many door for you Brenda like I was running on fire because I care about protecting all of our

074students and the fact that someone would threaten my friend atusa's life makes me absolutely sick so I'm here to ask you to support 840 vote for that policy because when we protect trans students gender non-conforming students and students of color we protect all students you are being told lies that really discuss me and dehumanize people like me because I am gender non-conforming and I am queer and I was also sexually abused multiple times throughout my childhood and they were all straight men white men who did that to me and as a steward a steward of children facilitator I know that one in 10 children will be sexually abused by their 18th birthday 90% know they're abuser so what we need to do is break the silence and actually talk about sexual identity because really this

075is a wonderful book we all need to calm down gender and sexuality is fluid we shouldn't force people to feel like they have to conform into boxes but we have to do that because otherwise they are we don't force people into boxes but kids are so scared right now please send a message that you support vote Yes for 840 thank you Michael Rivera good evening once again the school board has proven itself to be an abject failure plain and simple it's not personal you have failed us the most recent rule restricting attendance to the public comment uh period is an example of that you went off into your little hole like a bunch of scared little beavers and made some rules and then came back and forced them upon us I know the game you're

076playing the the legal game you have lawyers they tell you what you can do you push it right up to the line and the lawyer says don't do that and so now as parents we have to figure out how do we get ourselves a circus of lawyers to combat our own elected School Board this is a sad State of Affairs it's pathetic you should all be ashamed of yourself and especially uh In Absentia Beth Arts that even after she got caught she continued to be a deviant and uh and proposed her own leftist radical ideology and then she proceeded to lie to the police so that's fine you all have to live with it uh just some facts about transgender kids I couldn't find any in the school system but let's look at the Statewide

077facts facts 4% of people in Virginia are transgendered so 81,000 kids in lcps that makes about 325 kids that are transgendered I'm going to be generous some people said it was 30 something so we're turning the entire school system upside down for 325 kids and we never had a conversation or a discussion about how to do that and satisfy all parties involved it is a fact that already a man has gone into a woman's bathroom uh and was erect and kids were there happened in Califoria California and everyone just chooses to ignore it so it's going to happen it will happen it has happened I wish the school board would grow a spine and act like the elected officials they're supposed to be Monica Gil so CRT Guru ibram kend's book was required reading for

078some of our teachers but we're not doing CRT and Lowden kendi Advocates discrimination he says the only remedy to discrimination is more discrimination I want you to contrast that with Dr Martin Luther King who said Darkness cannot drive out Darkness only light can do that and hate cannot drive out hate only love can do that discrimination cannot drive out discrimination kendi SWS division as we have daily proof and he gets paid tens of thousands of dollars to do it while Martin Luther King Jr gave us the blueprint for Unity and he was the one who paid for it with his life his Christian teachings to love your [Music] neighbor succeed where your Equity policies are going to fail every time in 26 years of teaching I have never and I teach government and I teach

079us history I have never been afraid in our history not once it gives me the opportunity to point to America's moral compass which we have used time and time again so it is not that teachers like myself or the parents who stand behind me don't want to teach about racism is that we don't want our kids taught through this distorted lens of race race we want them taught the MLK way where the most important thing about an individual is who in addition if you pass po just about Tanner cross anymore Christian to say things that they don't believe we have loved and respected each other having to compel others to bow down Harry Michonne but whatever I came here straight off a golf course in South R I came straight here from that I came

080safety to safety lcps should I clap now Ziggler have only contempt example and we're standing out in it to wait to come in how dare you try and for a into the social justice realm killing Title 9 promoting sexual abuse all miles from Equity well how on Earth this year this year starting this year you are completely failing our vulnerable seed so instead you plan to instead of spending millions of dollars divisive training why Administration pat on the backs for sitting why don't you put that money in now reading below Baseline so every to succeed Su discover cures from cancer whatever the student chooses one of the best school systems in the United stes for stupidity take ACC or raise the frig bar and right Ken smile remember duty to love their students and to

081tell defending policy 8040 because state law but there's something else that the state law requires to the law says schools have to adopt based best practices the evidence is that the will stop believing they are another gen in fact I shared a study with you via of all children suffering from gender dor by the age of 18 but the evidence and to treat every gender identity as transgendered also require that gender dysphoria before making an actual Di prcts that by requiring social trans evidence some teach forces them to violate other teach scientific debate about how to diagnose and children the law says that this policy forces many to violate their belief or please create an accommodation follow their beliefs while students thank you for your service Kim Wright hi there uh my name is Kim

082Wright and I've been a middle school teacher in Laden County public schools for 20 years I love my students and I will protect them and not hurt them that requires me to be honest with them at all times when a child in lcps is experiencing gender dysphoria those thoughts and feelings they experience they're real that child deserves loving support and Care the truth according to every reliable study we have is that most children who experience gender dysphoria will stop believing uh that they are another gender over time many of those children are also experiencing another mental health condition or trauma again that child deserves loving support and Care the policy requiring teachers to use gender pronouns based on identity rather than sex without any substantiating ex evidence hurts teachers by forcing them to tell a

083child that they something that they believe is not true and it hurts children uh by having a condition that will otherwise go away over time prolonged through external reinforcement and repetition that violates my faith and my commitment to love the kids entrusted to my care I urge the board either to reject policy 840 or to include an accommodation for teachers who like me object because of their religion or because of their understanding of the ongoing scientific debate about treating gender dysphoria thank you for for your time Ryan bomberger Mary Joe Kenney Andrew AER hello I stand before you now as a former student of lcps with these two minutes I have three points to share with you first as someone who sat in the classrooms of lcps for over 12 years and now is a

084college student one who actually studies critical race Theory at the Collegiate level I will say what is taught in the classrooms and currently being implemented is far from critical race Theory but what I will say is what sits at the core of CRT and something that I believe everyone in this room could benefit from is striving for empathy during my time in Lowden County I experienced a multitude of racially insensitive situations but time and time again I swallowed my discomfort and often played it off in a comical manner because that was the only way I knew how to deal with it if I could change one thing about my education in lcps I would ask for a curriculum that prioritizes Equitable and comprehensive teachings equity-based curriculums around race gender sexualities open the door for conversations

085that help to prevent address and mitigate microaggressions instead of forcing students of marginalized identities to swallow their discomfort at the expense of keeping the peace we're asking you to have empathy which leads you which leads me to my second Point as an actor and a theater maker the greatest lesson that I have learned learned is that that I would love to share with everyone is that stepping into and embracing discomfort is the key to growth from my understanding resistance to progress is rooted in avoiding discomfort whether that discomfort comes from facing the ugly truth of this nation's history or discomfort from having open conversations about racial inequity or discomfort from allowing yourself or seeing other people Express the fullness of their being free from the hegemonic social norms of gender and sexuality whatever it may

086be I stand here to remind you this growth is uncomfortable lastly is love as I said before what is being taught is not critical race Theory but if you would like a firsthand introduction I would recommend All About Love by B hooks she has a quote that says and the willingness to do the work to connect the thought and action the solution to this is a love ethic it is thank you Natasha Grover you all are exhausting your Relentless Onslaught against girls by putting erotica on classroom shelves for boys to read while sitting beside them and now by opening girls bathrooms locker rooms and fle classes to boys based on nothing more than feeling I am so shocked there are fathers on this school board who support policy 840 as a father you are in

087a role that is supposed to be protective of children's privacy modesty and safety the tiny minority of students who do not feel comfortable or safe in spaces with people of the same sex should be accommodated with a third neutral space rather than violating the basic rights of the majority of students ask yourself why a third space has never been an option for transgender identified children but rather only access to opposite sex bathrooms and locker rooms well I'll tell you why because girls and their spaces are seen as nothing more than ponds to be used to validate a very tiny minority of male students and staff's feelings thank you M pad Cara dansy my name is Cara danky I'm the president of the US chapter of the women's Human Rights Campaign which can be found at

088www.en declaration. comom although I lead a nonpartisan organization I am here speaking solely for myself I'm a lifelong Democrat and a feminist my priority is the rights privacy and safety of women and girls which will be obliterated if you implement policy 8040 lcps claims to be committed to providing an equitable safe and inclusive learning environment for all students to do this you must protect female students as a distinct category all across the country female prisoners are being forced to share locked prison cells with male prisoners including convicted sex offenders on the basis of the male prisoners so-called gender identity because of policies like 840 please don't do this to female students in Lowden County in an era of me too young women deserve better there are countless Democrats all over the country who are furious

089at our party's leadership because of policies like 8040 I hear from them every day consider especially the impacts on young lesbians consider how horrible it must be for teenage samesex attracted girls to be told that quote some girls have penises as a Democrat and a feminist who fights to protect women's sex-based rights I am imploring the members of this board to vote no on policy 8040 thank you Lyn Davis good evening my name is Lyn Davis and I moved to Lowden County in August of 1989 this month I'll have lived in lden county for 32 years in those 32 years I spent 30 of those years represented by conservative Republicans never once in those years did I send a school board member an email calling them bad names I didn't find their home addresses and

090send them hate mail or Worse death threats and I surely didn't show up at a board meeting and scream at them and stomp my feet like we worked hard to get our Progressive values so I'm here today to say thank you thank you for running for office and putting yourself out there thank thank you for understanding that other lives don't thank you for striving to create equity for all students and staff in thank you for protecting lgbtq students and staff please pass policy 8 create new and Progressive programs we worked hard to get you all elected and clearly this is what the majority wants whether people want to scream loud elections have consequen the majority got you into these seats and they did it based on their Progressive values thank you for serving I just

091want to make an announcement and to and to inform them C happening that we're going to continue with the group that is in the building right now but allow those outside to take shelter in their cars during the storm so once we're through this storm clearers thank you in the lcps teacher training was stated that teachers were second mothers morals to their students while the parents the teachers here only moral High Ground else thinking that they can supplant our own house we tell our children not to bad to see not to show us if they think that someone they know make yes creates multiple secret groups that board policy while they bully Target constituents in an attempt to Sil in our house we consider lying to the during the investigation of a crime Justice Sheriff

092that she posted a call to Facebook page deed online the same night after call to Target parents along Tick Tock Miss Barts a lie of omission failure to tell the truth and say that we're not doing one thing because we teach our children accomplishments to learn from their failures and to treat others as they would wish to be treated is that white children are oppressors person and Mark Twain are offensive but pornograph harassment codes are acceptable in proudly stand on my house rule parent with my children is not here sorry thank you yes hi I just wanted to thank except that you know I can't really remember a few years back and I thought you know Public School System basically derailed my kids' lives you know the job that you've done been horrible and you

093know it's you know bad reputations just spreads so my kids grades me mental and umal health went down you know but you know who apparently it's not your job to take care of the cares and you know I'm just uh into our lives and Implement into our but maybe you should just get some more communistic countries like ex Russia China and just like you know get some you know I'm Soviet Union I was born your friendly transgender friends and just go values U maybe some know BR some uh multic do you know what kind of cultures they represent I don't know so you know what I don't really want to discriminate anyone uh and I would like to say that you know I all equally done a really bad job something maybe start right now

094already know that the transgender and that nothing I or anyone else said but we all here also know B now largely meets the separate and specific policies are not even NE know that these policies coming to vote tonight are nothing more than an opportunity for some of you to score big points within your political camps nothing more than a that you are using I hope at some point your conscience will consider the price of that win a community that you have so callously and irresponsibly divided not one person here has emerged as a leader to unify and heal this community not a single one of you tonight could be your night you could vote no or you could abstain and show us that you want to hear from the rest of us the majority of

095us that you don't agree with all the silencing tactics that are happening in the highest levels of lcps but I conscience for most of you Cheryl and good evening I have to start with the fact that this board and administr disappoint me in fact to the point that it's my long list of grievances with you however when my daughter came to me last week and asked if I could speak with you about masks I had to set everything else aside in fact I asked her to text me in her own words why kids should not have to wear masks and quote because I think kids have to wear one but the people with Act wear them should wear them in great anyway so people who don't to from the mouths of bab Ziggler as a

096mother I am here today to urge you to change your decision on requiring masks for students make it an option your teachers and staff were prioritized for vaccines they are free to wear masks if they choose to as vectors of disease our kids are more likely to be killed in a car accident on their way to school or struck by lightning than they are of dying from anything related to covid you are harming children by making them into paranoid and anxious prisoners cowering behind masks not seeing friends classmates or even their teachers Smiles or facial expressions in fact you're turning them into faceless zombies Foyd emails show that even your science Jesus fouchy has admitted that these masks do nothing to prevent the spread of a respiratory virus let's end the charade parents deserve to

097decide what is right for their children not you not the CDC this isn't a nanny State and we do not co-parent with this school board unmask our kids Daniel Brewbaker this public comment format and the statement on your website explaining it is nonsense it's a political stunt I know it you all know it and the world needs to know it I was here as as you know last uh month uh June 22nd I ned I hear after the fact any uh any dangerous or unsafe behavior on the part of any of the citizens who were here in this room waiting to comment in in the time up until you ended public comment what we did see is all nine of you voting to end to shut down public uh criticism of You by by ending

098the meeting that's right you punish the whole class including many of your constituents who were not cheering who were not booing public citizens of Lowden County who had signed up in advance and had waited their turn in line to have their one minute to address you publicly I'm here today in opposition to the woke Pro Progressive policy 840 it is morally wrong to force students and staff to speak against their conscience yet this policy creating a right to be called by one's preferred pronouns rather than leaving the judgment to the speaker compelled speech is unamerican Shantel Cooper Emily CLE good afternoon my name is Emily Keel I am a proud mother of a 7-year-old transgender here in Lowden County Schools I'm speaking on his behalf because he doesn't have a voice right now my son

099deserves the same rights as any other child in Lowden County it saddens me to see that there are teachers not willing to support my child based on their beliefs my son is a child from God he is not a mistake please I fully would want you all to support the 840 to protect him and every other child that's here in Lowden County thank you guy Gard good evening my name is Guy Goddard I'm a lowen County resident I have three children in the school system for those students that suffer from gender dysphoria the board should not provide accommodations for them that infringe on the rights and well-being of other students there has to be a better solution the proposed policy says that all students are entitled to have access to restrooms and locker rooms that

100are safe and comfortable but at the same time allow students to use the facility that corresponds to their consistently asserted gender how can my daughters feel safe and comfortable when they're boys allowed in the restroom and the locker room with them I tried to explain this to my oldest daughter and the look of confusion and dismay on her face says it all this policy is shocking harmful and wrong teachers and staff should not not be forced to use pronouns that are contrary to the biological gender of a student this would put many at odds with their religious beliefs and give many no choice but to leave the school system how many good teachers are you willing to lose the same God that created the in his own image in the image of God he created

101them male and female he created them this is God's design Lord God I pray of those on this Schoolboard I pray that they would not bow down to the demands of the minority and the Wayward direction of our culture but instead would Implement policy that protects educates and allows our students to reach their full potential thank you hunt McMahon first I just want to say there is a special place in hell for whoever decided that it was okay to leave people outside in that storm it's disgusting I've never seen anything like it you should be ashamed I'm here today to notify the board of continued violations of policy 7524 staff participation in political activities that policy states no employee shall use his or her position within the school division to further a political cause campaign

102Etc black lives matter has been a political action committee since 2015 the most current filing is available at fec.gov dated October 7 2020 I've also distributed those filings to you they're in your mailbox in the past you pretended that BLM was just a social movement and as such did not run a foul of policy that was a lie and it continues to be a lie today all BLM symbolism must be removed from our school system right now it's also time to remove Miss Barts from this board a single email was enough to suspend Tanner cross As A disruption Miss Bart's Behavior led to a rockus led to rockus meetings thousands of emails and angry parents a recall petition and a criminal investigation far exceeding your definition of disruption her stink is left on each one

103of you as you sit quietly and let her embarrass our school system and our County in Miss Bart's own words silence is complicity Christine wood Colin Doner good evening um there's so many topics I want to talk about I didn't know I was going to have two minutes I thought I was just going to have one but I'm going to talk about masks um the CDC issues all kinds of Health recommendations that are barely paid any heed or even known probably by most individuals yet you choose to Rob us of our personal agency to make a risk benefit decision for our children not because there's any data to back it up but because it aligns with your personal politics so you turn your decision-making authority over to the unelected bureaucracy we have the right to

104look at the lack of any data showing that mask mandates are effective in preventing covid that there's no real world studies showing effectiveness of cloth masks that there's data that shows that kids are less affected by covid than they are by other viruses the flu RSV Etc that the vaccine is available to everyone over age 12 over 90% of the elderly are already vaccinated the most at risk we have the right to weigh these considerations against the fact that there are studies that show Max Mass collect bacteria that show that they restrict the breath and increase carbon dioxide in the blood that they the visual observance of facial expression and speech is an important factor in child development that we're denying our children by forcing them to wear masks and it's our right to consider

105all these things and more and make our own decisions whether or not to mask our kids what you're trying to do is IM immoral and it's abusive to our children it's a violation of our civil rights our civil liberties please take a step back if please take take a step back and don't turn over your agency to the CDC out of fear of making a decision if you're not willing to lead resign and let us elect someone who is also vote no on 840 thank you Everly [Music] mcau my name is Beverly McCully I'm a mom of 11 I stand before you as a parent who is perplexed infuriated and disgusted with what this board is attempting to do to our children you're taking away their innocent and all policies you're attempting to force upon

106us you you are creating racial divides by your critical race Theory you're allowing and condoning boys and girls to use the same bathrooms you're taking away the safety of our children and exposing them to your Twisted agendas I am so sorry and saddened for children that have gender dysphoria and their parents attempting to negotiate how best to help them however this remains a percentage of 1% and a simple solution would be for those children to use a gender neutral bathroom or teachers bathrooms my girls should not have to see male genitalia in lock rooms nor should my son see femal or open themselves up to rape we have taken law enforcement out of our schools by saying it's up to principles to call the policy and press charges so further threatening the safety of our

107children my biracial black and white children should not be forced to identify themselves under a specific race we all bleed red we are all humans what CRT will do is further exacerbate the racial issues and does nothing to heal heal the hurt so since you feel so compelled to destroy our youth I offer a prayer this school board and all children alike dear God please guard the hearts and minds of our children Shield them from oppression hate and divide that this board is placing upon each and every one of them I pray Lord and compel you to open their hearts and Minds to see the hate and hurt that they are forcing upon the innocent of this world Lord I pray and ask that an army of your faithful will rise up and face our

108oppressors and stand strong in the words you give us may all that is done to destroy the minds of our youth will be exposed may all those that are attempting to steal the innocence of Youth will be exposed and Lord I pray and ask that you come upon each and every one of these school board members and the school system as a whole and allow the Holy Spirit to move inside each and every one of them and that they may Joe Moy go ahead the timer starts when you start talking yep please start my time for for you all have wasted enough of our time so it's nice to get to return the fa if you find the school board let them know that Joe Moy would like to speak to them thank you being

109a Schoolboard jobs in the country over the last year and a half challenge but You' failed you made it worse it all you have let divide our community five months when her behavior and did nothing standing up to miss Barts when she stay because that is absolutely we are all here our children we're not the bad guys we are parents fighting for our kids and their education our children are struggling with learning loss our children are struggling emotionally our children are struggling while you sit back and watch but we're not going anywhere not all of us can afford private school or are able to homeschool our children we are depending on you to work together with us and hear us we just want a seat at the table not everyone will get everything they want

110but we have to work together I truly hope that happens but one thing is very clear a functioning school board will not be one that Beth Barts is a member of not if fight for schools has anything to say about it thank you Gary Higgins good afternoon my name is Gary Higgins I live in the kataka district I have three daughters that graduated from ladden County schools and I have four Grandsons in the county currently I also served on this board for four years and I served on the Board of Supervisors for eight years so I have been in your seats you all normally like to talk about following the sign so I thought I'd share a little biology with you today there are two chromosomes to determine a person's sex and gender they are

111the X and Y chromosomes if you have two x's you are a female if you have an X and A Y you are a male the fact that I may feel differently does not change who or what I am I have three daughters who are in ladden County Public Schools and they were all athletes men participating in W women's sports is Absolut Ely absurd it is unfair it will undo all of the good that has been done by Title 9 over the years and it will ultimately lead to the end of women's competitive Sports now you might ask yourself where did I get all this xenophobic nonsense I got it from the NIH website genome.gov you might go there and see for yourself and I know that you all normally don't like to talk about

112religion but it's interesting that the science inter inter sex with Genesis 52 Genesis 52 said God created them male and female and he blessed blessed them and he called them humans the NIH website goes on to say that the Y chromosome of every living man is related to a single male ancestor who lived about a 100,00 years ago as an aside that genetic information throws out all the arguments for CRT because there is only one race the human race in your deliberations please follow the the science and remember that how I feel does not determine who or what I am thank you very much Christie sfy good afternoon or good evening I guess at this point thank you for letting me speak um I didn't come with any prepared remarks I um just wanted to

113come in and say thank you for the work you have done in the last year and a half um we've heard the words unprecedented way too many times so I'm not going to say that um but thank you and um I guess in response to so many people that have been here sharing their opinions I would just like to remind everyone that you are here representing a wide variety of Children and Families and we don't all look like one another and we don't all have the same beliefs and we don't all have the same Heritage um but thank you for making decisions in the best interest of our children Ian prior and board members um once speaker has completed his comments we'll move to our public hearing can staff confirm that the three speakers that

114signed up for the public hearing are actually in the building right now thank you good afternoon um a few months ago I was here and I said you know we could do this all day every day and since May that's what's happened um we have great people out there that are energized and you know the performance of this school board has energized them and you know I just want to fill you in on on the progress we've have to reach a certain threshold for removal and Miss Sheridan were at 50% Miss reer 54% uh Miss King 75% Miss corbo 88% and Mr sarakin 110% and I say that not to antagonize I say that because it is representative of the failure of this school board to maintain the trust as is its job and we

115we all understand that you want to dial down the temperature but when you do things they only backfire like today it's only going to get people more angry or when you say that this is some cynical ploy to win elections it's disrespectful to the parents that are out there working on this and when you say we're engaged in dog whistle politics it only makes it worse none of these things are going to dial down the temperature none of these things are going to get us to a dayon where we can have discussions about tough issues so the question question is whether you're Democrat Republican whether are your motivations or to make the smart political decisions or to do the right thing whether you're subject to a recall removal petition or not somebody has to step

116up and do the right thing and the first thing that will ease the tension in this community is if somebody steps up and calls on Miss Barts to step down who will it be who will have the courage to do that will it be you Mr batty or Mr Mar Morse or Miss King or Mr Mr shatkin who will it be that is how you repair the community you have a toxic School Board member that is harassed plotted and destroyed this community call on her to step down and you will see a different temperature board members at this time it is 6:30 and we will move to our public hearing the support services proposed Secondary School attendance Zone this is an abbreviated process and I'm hoping our speakers are actually in the building absolutely thank

117you so we'll call Linda Hunter hello um so my name is Linda Hunter I'm buying property here in Heartland um I want to say uh the main um reason why we bought this property was because of the distance to um the schools Brambleton and um and uh Independence High School they are about less than two miles from our house I can't tell you how hard it was to get this property during a pandemic um trying to get an appointment in order to get property and then the expense of the property um trying to get it built within a a time frame just to find out that the reason why we bought the property uh is for nothing because the schools are no longer um we're not allowed to go to them so anyway it looks

118like the schools that were being reson to this school my daughter could have walked to the other school are probably like a 10 10 to 15 minute drive in the opposite direction as I work going up Route 50 which we all know is a uh is terrible um and so we would have never bought this property if we knew we were going to have to do this um I think that we are a part of that Community we are like the middle of willowford which all of willowford is going to still go to the school as well as the community below us that is still going to go to those schools um it looks like uh we were about the only one that was zoned out um we feel like distance should be a a

119reason to be at a school and not first come first serve as our house was not built before theirs so we don't belong to that school we feel like we will be um contributing to that neighborhood Hood uh to the schools we still will be to Madison thank you ma'am your time is staff can I get an update on the other speakers that are signed up thank you and can I also get a weather update still raining okay um at this time we are going to take a short recess and we'll be back at 7 pm so if you could um and I just wanted to alert the board that the other speakers that signed up for the public hearing are also signed up for public comment so hopefully we'll um have them in the

120lineup when we get back so at this time we'll stand in recess until 700 p.m. thank you for friend yeah for e s yeah e for e for e for e for e for e for e for e for e for e for e for for e hey board members we're back from our break and we're get ready to go back to our list of public commenters and we'll start up again with Donna wow good evening my name is Donna wowski and I live in the Ashburn District I don't have a teaching background but I do have a federal law enforcement One this board is restrictive and condenscending towards its parents who are simply wanting to speak on behalf of their children on July 23rd I attended the Biden muli rally in Arlington where I

121saw Miss Risser there the rally unfortunately was poorly attended the Democrats are backpedaling the CRT transgender issue much like they did for their defunded police campaign the r no times a Bastion of liberal thinking has said Virginia Republicans could win in November on the CRT transgender issue the Virginia Department of Education doesn't mandate 8040 number of the number of counties throughout Virginia already have voted against any so-called transgender policy mandates there are already mandates in place to protect the transgender students Students theen County school board has lit the match on this very divisive and polarizing issue but they can put the fire out but voting no thank you very much Catherine coat Walter Tennyson Chris Hodges feel like I'm on Shark Tank um I gotta tell you I came here tonight and I was I

122was I was kind of depressed I because I thought ill thoughts about the school system and the school board but I was standing in line with a teacher and I was I was asking her and she was she was fantastic and I was asking her questions uh simple questions but sincere questions um and it really helped me it helped me feel better about things but that gets to my point why I'm here tonight um Dr zegler members of the board U your Equity plan may be a very good one um I don't know but I have a lot of questions and my strong suggestion to you I'm coming here with a suggestion is to have more two-way conversations um you know these these type of forums they're great but it's just a it's just a

123one-way venting that's all it is where is the question and answer answering where is the give and take I think that's what we need so I was talking to Kelly in line I said Kelly one of the things that I've heard um I said one of the training one of the titles of the training it said CRT that's critical race Theory she said no that's um I'm sorry culturally responsive training I said I had no idea you know that's the type of misinformation if there was question and answering and if there was give and take that could get out to the public I thought it was critical race Theory I also heard that uh what we're going to do in terms of equity is to uh uh abortion kids based on their race in class

124the person who said that was serious and I mentioned that to Kelly she said of course not so you know that's my message tonight I think that we you need a forum where there's question and answering Dr Zigler you have a degree in educational leadership uh I attended Annapolis Mr Morris you were a naval officer a swo by the way great job um we know that leaders leadership is about communication and I think I think we need more of it thank you Samuel Hamlin good evening my name is Samuel Hamlin I am here in support of adopting policy 840 I'm a graduate from ladden Valley High School School in the year 2017 some of you may remember me I have appeared before you for public comment uh several times when I was a student in

125many ways I'm incredibly grateful to ladden County public schools for giving me such a great education I owe a great deal of My Success in my career um because of the education I received here feel that I'm successful despite my school district and not because of it I was lucky that my teachers most of my teachers were supportive about my when I changed my name and my PR oun 6 years ago however there were no policies that would protect me from bullying I feel sad for any trans students of Mr Cross because I know that uh used to abuse young people who are just trying to live their authentic lives because my school counselor did the same thing to me which was not just upsetting to me because I was trans but also because someone

126employed by the school was trying to push an ideology onto me that contradicted my religious beliefs feeling like there was no one that would protect me I suffered through depression through most of my entire High School career mental health ties directly to a students performance and ability to learn there should be no place in schools where their teachers make them feel un they spend most of their time and have no choice in which school they attend or which teachers they have please do what is right for our students and what is40 thank you so much uh I am teacher of German at Harper Park Middle School spoken today I am in awe of your children and the children of this County some hatred many of these same fames staff who are in the LGBT as

127a non-binary teacher I School in June to celebrate after it was shown I received emails countless other students and staff and membership as it were um I also received and I'm still receiving online threats to my safety to my life I have been outed internationally on Fox News um doesn't bother me I'm sure who I am my pronouns are they them um I speak for those who don't feel comfortable and safe obviously uh speaking today what what people say when they say I'm not going to use your pronouns I'm not going to support this you're creating a hostile environment for the children that are hiding in our schools those 20% 10 to 20% students who are going through the same thing and experience I went through 30 40 years ago depression suicide attempts self harm

128all caused by how some of you and your families treat children in our schools and in our communities my pronouns video was in no way about my sexuality that video was for those kids and staff who do not feel safe anywhere because of you since June their harassment has continued I've been called a pedophile a groomer an idiot crazy you name it I am none of those things what I am is an interation thank you please yield the mic Brian Davidson good evening first I'd like to thank the press for recording the faces of the speakers I understand that the school board tried to prevent us from being taped on the on the camera so it couldn't go viral but the Press thankfully is here to protect our rights second I'd like to talk about

129what's the number one two and three priorities of a school district teaching kids teaching all kids and there's been a lot of talk about whether there's racist or anti-lgbtq people in the community and and among the School Employees suppose you were one of those things you said I don't care about black kids I don't care about hispanic kids I don't care about lgbtq kids how' you go about affecting that maybe you would prevent them from getting educated so let's look at the education scores of your schools last year what you achieved the following schools scored in the bottom 33 33% of all schools nationally Countryside Cool Springs Forest Grove leeburg metaland Rolling Ridge Sterling Sugarland Mrs rezer Mrs Barts Mrs Sheridan those are your schools that's horrendous you should apologize it was because of your

130actions those kids didn't learn now let's look at how much money we're spending for that incompetence over $188,000 a year based on your data that you just put out that's more than Fairfax more than any other school district and you're getting horrendous results you just take taxpayers money and you don't even teach the kids you claim to protect that's incompetence then you were dumbing down standards you changed the rules to get into the academies of lden and what happened black kids admission didn't go up white kids went up and Asians went down there was a kid at TJ who did a similar thing who was quoted in incoming class I was never strong in science or math in quote but now I have everything to get in I got in in a lottery this is

131the eom of incompetence you've removed accelerated math from middle schools that's in your program of support B say they weren't do it you should resign Daniela Harris Jessica Gordon hello my name is Jessica Gordon and this is my third school board meeting I've attended I want to thank all the white Christians that did not attack me this meeting I appreciate it I have an investigation going on into the last school board meeting I just wanted to say to Mr Ziggler I really wish you would have emailed me back when I emailed you as a concerned parent and told you that I was assaulted at this school and Mr bird I really wish that when a parent that actually goes to your school is assaulted on on your property that you help assist that parent not

132try to obstruct Justice I support 1080 I'm not going anywhere I just moved to this County three years ago and helped flip this school board I support you 110 110% I ask that you support your parents all of them thank you Laura herj Kenny meline Skinner hello um greatly appreciate you all allowing us to be outside in that very extreme 97° heat thunder lightning and torrential downpour so sweet of you uh it's very surprising that you all are actually allowing us to speak today so I guess I should be grateful so before you attempt to silence us again let me express my complete disgust with every facet of your hidden agendas attempts to silence those who do not agree with your Marxist practices and the complete disregard for students of all ages of whom many

133have already been negatively impacted by your extreme covid lockdowns racist identity politics and gender policies I was here in June for the meeting that got shut down by a panel of cowards who think that silencing parents and taxpaying citizens is the appropriate way to shove your critical race Theory down the throats without their parents' knowledge who do you think you are trying to hide your CRT teachings using terms like Equity inclusiveness diversity and then many other buzzwords that are used to attempt to hide what we all know is critical race Theory the teaching of factual history and Civics English math science is the curriculum that we will help children grow and learn to make their own decisions when faced with challenges let children be children stop your political indoctrination it has already been proven in

134more than one instance that most of you are guilty of supporting mental abuse of students of all ages intimidating teachers who strive to stand up for what they believe in and a complete disregard for the parents and those who stand with them your tactics completely negate our first amendment rights of free speech establishment of religion the right of people peaceably to assemble and to petition before you vote on these policies and you continue the way you are I hope you deal with the devil your deal with the devil was worth it when you sold your soul at the expense of our children Paul Kershaw Vivian coronin hi good evening I'm here to talk about the mask mandate that you published on August 2nd and I really think that we need to re look at the

135plan for the school year coming forward and the science because a lot of it written to the school district is politically driven children should not readily acquire Co or teachers teachers have come into the school year vaccinated as well as other kids who are old enough and that want it teachers are at a low risk of severe illness and the school settling the school setting remains one of the safest and lowest risk environments masks on children with such near zero risk of transmission and illness from covid is is not necessary it is illogical and irrational whatever argument there may be for consenting adults children should not be required to wear masks for 6 hours a day masks pose the following threats to their safety such as anxiety risk of infection headaches and shortness of breath

136furthermore mask wearing is detrimental to Children's communication and social development many states have adopted optional mask mandates for the school year and I think that's something we need to reconsider leave the health choices up to the parents and let our kids breathe fresh air AA sherbo what I I have to say tonight may not be as glamorous as some of the other speakers you've had but it's just as important so I'm here to remind you of that 18 months ago I advocated to open our schools back up I advocated for Education specifically for sped students specifically for my children may I remind you all of The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 or fape free and appropriate public education this school board continues to Mak decisions that pertains to everything but education you are consumed with these

137political agendas that you have forgotten what matters most providing quality education to every one of our children yes a lot of children have suffered through this however let me tell you your sped Community has barely stayed above water what is it going to take for this entire board to see what you're doing is creating more harm than good to our students over the course of the past two years you have failed thousands of children who will now spend endless hours and years catching up academically and emotionally it is time for this entire board to put your political agendas on hold and put your focus back into education where where it belongs thank you Brandon Michonne it's funny I find myself outside hunkered down under the awning um under this torrential downpour we just had surrounded

138by people of all different political views um you know we're all talking there was no racist bigoted or inappropriate comments you guys have been elected to the school board you're not the Supreme Court you're not making Landmark decisions here nor should you be and you know it's funny that the um you know this is not the environment that we want to be jamming political agendas down the throat of our children what the parents and taxpayers and students are asking is not a political coup there are no marching militias there's no tanks rolling down the street here it's my job to be the parent it's your job to ensure values beliefs and the priorities of the community are understood let's refocus on teaching Reading Writing history shop class science and advanced math let's figure it out

139we've asked time and time again and we really haven't gotten any answers and you guys know that I mean why do we keep coming back because we're not getting answers but it's okay to have different opinions I have different opinions than you guys might have that's okay what we want and what we've asked for is a town hall to have in-person q& a with you guys not people on screens the elected in person let us ask you guys questions we might not like the answers but that's okay let's get a town hall organized to ask the tough questions I urge you to do this someone once told me that rational people can make rational decisions together let's make rational decisions let's figure out a way to raise the bar in Lowden County thank you April

140little I'm April little I'm from the broadrun class of 2016 I'm a Christian and I'm also a lesbian some Faith communities are denying the dignity and personhood of transgender and gendere expansive people but I believe that all people are made in the image of God who transcends gender I also believe that bad the ology kills if it does not lead to human flourishing it is not of God there is a consensus among licensed mental health professionals that attempts to keep youth from expressing their true gender identities leads to depression and suicide therefore such attempts have no place in a healthy learning environment as a person of faith in the lgbtq plus Community I believe students gender identity should be supported and affirmed in schools because they might not be receiving that affirmation from their families

141or faith communities I support policy 8040 rights of transgender and gender expansive students thank you for your time Caitlyn G gregowski and I mangled it but thank you not present thank you Michael Miller good evening on June 20th 77 1985 James Monroe addressed the Virginia General Assembly and he said this we hold it for a fundamental and inalienable truth that religion and the manner of discharging it can be directed only by reason and conviction not by force and violence the religion then of every man must be left to the conviction the conscience of every man and it is the right of every man to exercise it as these May dictate end quote James Monroe was a founding father he was also the fifth president of the United states he knew exactly what the Constitution meant

142and what it was written for and what it was written to protect and defend policy 840 denies Christians this right it denies them the right to practice their Christian conscience people like Tanner cross are unable to practice their freedom of conscience because it forces him to lie it forces others who have the same beliefs to lie to a child and I didn't think that we were in the business of lying to Children the science actually defends females have two chromosome ex chromosomes males have an X and A Y can never change doesn't matter how many surgeries you have or how many drugs you take you say follow the science for covid so why aren't you consistent with basic biology why are you willing to sacrifice our children on the altar of the cultural revolution is

143it for popularity for money to be on the right side of History last month I spent an hour with the World War II veteran 98 years old who defended the freedoms that you so freely want to give away with 840 he was injured at the Battle of the Bulge and spent two weeks at an aid station before returning to his unit to finish the war he was on the right side of History he was the one wearing the flag that's behind you and out in front of this building on his arm and fighting for what it represents standing by fellow soldiers who never made it back who are buried in Europe for the freedoms that you want to take away Burton lman hello everyone as a former lcps student I'm in full support for policy

144840 and can speak firsthand on the benefits this policy will Prov will provide well many while many gender non-conforming students have had great support networks at home far too many have families who don't agree with their gender identity creating an unstable home life these students then turn to their friends and Educators for help in forming a support network when a non-binary or transgender student lacks a strong support network that affirms their gender identity they experienced increased rates of depression thoughts of suicide and suicide attempts as opposed to their cisgender peers this was found in a June 2020 study published in the Journal of adolescent Health in a study published just last month in the same Journal researchers found that lack of access to Bath to a bathroom that corresponds to a gender nonconforming students gender

145identity resulted in students increased rates of depression 85% more increase thoughts of suicide 60% and attempts of suicide 30% attempted in the last year these increases were not found however when students had access to a bathroom that corresponded to their gender identity or supp or a support network that affirmed their gender identity this is why policy 840 is so desperately needed according to a 2016 NIH study on the impact of using the preferred pronouns of gender non-conforming people the NIH found that they simply referring to someone by their preferred pronouns and helping to help to reduce depression suicide and raise their self-esteem I have seen firsthand that when our gender non-conforming peers are in an environment where they feel accepted um and that they have value their mental health dramatically improves just because our peers

146experience hate in their homes doesn't mean they have to also experience it in our schools I hope the board does the right thing and passes 840 thank you Tiffany pfco on June 22nd the crowd in this room applauded former Senator Dick black we sang the national anthem and less than 1% of the population in attendance had a runin with the law because of this you've changed your meeting Protocol no purses no backpacks no Sticks no Flags no supports for sign no groups larger than 10 no public viewing for the community who pays taxes to this school system this school board has quickly descended into totalitarianism I find it absurd that you justify your own protection while flat out ignoring parents' concerns about their own children's well-being in March my child had to watch a TED

147talk in English class not on anything related to English but rather oppression and acknowledging privil any parent with a pulse knows that this is wrong who wants to tell me that that's not CRT I'll wait kids go to English class to learn Reading Writing and grammar not to apologized to false gods because they were born white not to be psychologically conditioned my child didn't choose to be born white more than any other child chose to be born a person of color every parent in this County needs needs to know that in the hierarchy of protection you are first and our children are a distant second Miss Barts on June 22nd you stated that our children don't need protecting I find it hard to believe that the majority of parents in this County agree with you

148it appears as though you know it too Andrea wof my name is Andrea wisoff I live and vote in Lowden County I also teach the children of Lowden County and that is a responsibility I do not take lightly I have a class aotto you belong here you belong here you belong here should be the motto of every public school classroom and system today I am here to advocate for the rights of transgender children all children need an ally but our transgender children need allies now here is your reminder if you call yourself an lgbtq ally but you don't believe trans girls are girls then you are not an ally to Children here is another reminder our students are children and children need to be affirmed and children need to be told each one that you

149belong here protect trans children thank you sagna Pearson hi I'm sagna Pearson I'm a mother of four biracial children I am an educated and analytical minded Indian American who speaks four different languages I cannot be fooled by The wordsmiths Who camouflage the nefarious intent of CRT by using obscure and everchanging verbage my children will not be victimized by forced exposure to racist divisive anti-American anti- police anti-military anti-religion Marxist communist messages prop propagated by CRT my children's constitutional rights must be protected by lcps if they refuse to participate in any instruction or activity that inculcates aformentioned ideology I demand my parental rights not be usurped by lcps to indoctrinate any morals contrary to mine lcps is only goal should be to educate my children with the Core curriculum of math science language arts accurate history Etc

150lcps is not the second parent and cannot command my children's obedience to divisive discrimination based on skin color if you are a hardworking tax ping citizen it doesn't matter your profession right now you need to stop being afraid and stop sitting on the sidelines because here is the unvarnished truth those who control the youth control your future what does your future look like thank you John Nicks John constant Zachary Adams Li Landers Melissa yord Melissa Natali hi my name is Melissa natal and I'm an ER physician in the community and I have two High School sons in ladden County kids are not dying from covid and they do not need to wear masks parents are being fooled into thinking that masking their asymptomatic children will somehow prevent them from spreading or getting covid this is

151a big fat lie here are the facts based on real data fact there is no asymptomatic transmission of covid from student to teacher fact the mortality rate of covid in kids aged 0 to 18 with no pre-existing conditions is zero fact masks Harbor varent bacteria they increase carbon dioxide levels and they impede learning fact there are no conclusive studies proving that masks actually prevent covid my last fact the CDC is a group of 15,000 quote unquote scientists they are not practicing Physicians they work for the government and they released guidelines based on no conclusive data this notion that kids are being masked for their own safety is a lie why do we need to mask a child with a mortality rate of zero parents are very intelligent beings masking should be a parental decision based

152on the facts thank you Steven papino Jack lechet maruni Abasi an Miller good evening I come to you as a citizen a taxpayer a parent a former Laden County Public School Head Start teacher and a presently a homeschool mom by January 6 the last school board meeting you exposed yourselves and where your funding and your marching orders are coming from that dark money from the pit it comes from the pit of Hell and if you think for one second that you will not pay an eternal ransom for Dancing with the Devil Himself at the expense of our children you are sadly mistaken stop while you still can save our children do the right thing our children in Lowden County are not pwns to be used in a dark deceitful Web of Lies we know who

153you are dancing with they have no souls they traffic in children and abuse and Rob them of their innocence and their lives we know their level of depravity and soon the entire world will know too we the citizens and parents of Lowden County implore you to stop do the right thing you can stop it today in louen County just say no may God bless each of you and may he give you the boldness and the courage of David to do the right thing Amy Miller good evening um my name is Amy Miller and I have uh four children one of which is in L County Public Schools my daughter Lydia is a student at lcps she has special needs and is not not able to communicate well policy 840 is a violation of her religious

154freedoms as well as a safety concern if you pass this policy I will demand that someone accompany her all day to make sure there aren't people of the opposite sex in the bathroom before she enters also requiring her to wear a mask is a violation of her religious freedoms if you can't ask a student who wears a face covering for religious expression which you shouldn't then you certainly can not require my daughter to wear one according to the CR treat training mass is equity given to lcps teachers my daughter who has Down syndrome is on the list of people who are oppressed why are you teaching students to walk around with a chip on their shoulder waiting to be offended my daughter isn't oppressed she has strengths and weaknesses just like every other child Educators

155should be helping her to do her best not teach her to feel sorry for herself because she falls into a certain demographic and society as holding her back where does Equity fit into the lcps mission statement which is empowering all students to make meaningful contributions to the world did you know that Empower means to enable or give someone the ability to do something how do you do this under the guise of equity which requires a forced equal outcome success will look different for every student and that my friends is not racism or oppression lcps needs to quit lying about what they're teaching our children and forcing their teachers to be trained in whether they call it Equity or inclusion or diversity training they're all tenants of CRT and equally is damaging to the students the

156community and our nation thank you Divia deeta KY sandon hello I'm here to speak against adoption of proposal 8040 Virginia law states a parent has a fundamental right to make decisions concerning the upbringing Education and Care of the parent child regulation 8040 permits the school and student to withhold gender identity information from the parents while affirming any number of gender changes requested by the student this policy violates the basic principle of informed consent by encouraging the school staff to develop courses of action to allow the student to explore being one or more multiple gender categories while at school while concealing this information from parents minor AG children are simply not able to reason through the lifelong repercussions of these types of medical and mental health decisions and therefore require the support and care of their

157parents this policy violates the First Amendment the Constitution protecting free speech in that it compels students and staff to affirm firm beliefs that they do not support or otherwise face punitive actions by the school to include loss of employment free speech and debate are Hallmarks of equality education but that this move to authoritatively force a political position on an entire Community will in fact silence debate on any issues that may not be currently supported by the political Elites this is exactly the process seen by other socialist countries who were formerly free societies this policy eliminates protections of Title 9 and takes away the opportunities for our girls to compete in sports and further their access to Collegiate education by losing opportunities for scholarships that will be awarded potentially to other transgender athletes in my opinion

158this is a direct threat to our Religious Freedom by forcing everyone involved in the public school system to recognize and affirm a radical sexualization of our children in support of a political agenda make no mistake about it after this policy is adopted there will be an onslaught of brainwashing curriculum to normalize train transgender beliefs which challenge the very notion of the nuclear family the lawsuits are Charlie bus Medina kerban Andrew Boyd yes hello good evening my parents taught me that uh taught me Standard English and I teach my children Standard English and I expect the same from L County Public Schools I have two children in elementary school and one in middle school this fall policy 8040 requires the staff to utilize the students preferred pronouns however it follows that this policy will also be

159applied to the students in short order as well most common preferred pronoun chosen are they and them so what is the proper subject verb agreement of a student who chooses these pronouns they is reading a book them's in the cafeteria or will the staff and student necessarily cause confusion with they are in the bathroom meaning a single student this would be dangerous if communicating with a fire and rescue emergency Personnel grammar syntax and vocabulary taught in school for a great reason so that students May learn to speak standard English not only does policy 840 undermine this goal but it punishes staff and students who speak proper English school board that undermines the education of our children definitely doesn't have their best interest at heart thank you very much Lawrence Harris Jessica Smith Joanna Gusman Matthew

160zeroi Brandy Drew Mark rener Amy Rogers okay to the Press I really like for you to understand I am the lady who got completely drenched in the rain being outside waiting for me to be able to use my freedom of speech to talk here because clearly the most parents seriously don't have a lot of freedom of speech here nor does the school board seem to care about any of us so I'm here to just discuss a couple of things I don't know Brenda if you're going to look at me or not because you usually always look down just like typical liberal elitist who just decide you're going to look down your nose keep all the people outside in the rain and the Thunder but we're very worried about Co so we're not going to let

161people in here and a security reason the whole logic is out crazy so I'm here to say your critical race Theory maybe you should think of this you guys are the ones who are the races you are the ones who are looking at every single person's skin color of this County and you're also looking at what kind of alphabet we are LGBT ADHD you name it how about you start instead of critical race Theory why don't you start implementing critical theory I have so many kids who I barely can't even imagine that they even graduated from the school of valley this year they couldn't even SM spell Snake Eyes s n e k was how they spelled it we have bigger problems in this County than worrying about all these other side notes circus shows

162that you guys are putting up here the more important thing is get the kids back to Reading Writing arithmetic let the kids actually learn and please focus on their content of their character not how they are their skin color their feelings for the day it's time you finally start to wake up Gina Anders Mark wi oh okay Gina come on in thank you for letting us in after three and a half hours of standing in the oppressive Heat and humidity and uh storms that's it's nice to be finally LED in to the building that my tax dollars pay for I'm outraged right now at the recent actions of this board against Tanner cross and Beth Bart's Little Hit List aimed at destroying her political opponents yeah we call that political persecution and we don't do

163that in this country this is America so I joined the many other voices is tonight in expressing my outrage that no one on this board has called for her resignation she is toxic divisive and willing to resort to actual persecution of her political enemies we don't do that again in America I ask that this board grow a backbone and publicly demand her resignation I'm also outraged at this board's decision to shut down public delate Fe freedom of assembly and the right to petition our government at the June meeting I waited for three and a half hours at that meeting too and never got in to say my peace why because y'all didn't like what we were going to say you all knew we were all largely opposed to you and you cowered instead of facing

164the music disgusting so let me be clear here we the people and parents of Laden County oppose 840 and we oppose your efforts to impose critical race Theory an overtly racist doctrine that teaches our children to judge and categorize others based solely on the color of their skin contrary to what Beth and her cronies would have you believe the definition of racism is not disagreeing with a Democrat shocking I know but Mary thank you than you ma'am please yield the mic Mark wi Debbie win Esther Martin Courtney Faulk Abby Platt come on in I'm the parent of three biracial children when we moved here 10 years ago we specifically sought out this area we came to what we believed was a small quiet country little town and we specifically came for the schools and as

165you well know people in the DC Metro Area come and go they take Foreign Service positions all over the world we are constantly hearing from family and friends all over the country and all over the world that are appalled by what they see on the news and they keep messaging and calling and texting saying is this your school and we are embarrassed we're embarrassed that our small country town and the schools that we sought after continue continue to be on the news I'm disappointed to be in a position where there continues to be such uncertainty and distrust that we are going back to school in a few short weeks and there still is such uncertainty and distrust I'm disappointed that it appears that our school board does not care to hear from parents I've been

166out in the parking lot with my children for hours at waiting for my turn even though I registered days ago somehow my registration was put in the wrong category and I had to register again I'm disappointed that there's a disproportionate amount of time and energy and resource being given to a very small percentage of children and not that they don't matter they do they matter I'm willing to have important and hard conversations they matter nevertheless there is a disproportionate amount of time and energy that is being dedicated and I'm concerned that Reading Writing and arithmetic is being dismissed um it is thank you ma'am please yield the mic Jasmine Pearson I am a student of Len County Public Schools a bullied exclud student due to CRT several times I've been harassed for what I stand

167for I've been excluded from several things because my action to not join the school pride Club I've been made fun of sweared in front of other students because of my religious beliefs CRT is not helping racial Justice it's tearing kids down like mean it's demeaning our worth it's making kids look at your skin color and popular culture as a judge to determine if you're a friend or an enemy others feel alone and confused as to what they should believe anymore we need Justice for the kids like me who are being forgotten and suffering Glen Amos Damon schaer Charles solace good evening thank you very much for allowing me to speak uh and allowing us to uh wait for the uh three hours in the rain and the heat I certainly do appreciate that um 100%

168this board has not had accountability of 100% you have a very good record of graduation for the county 96.3 or 4% that's a pretty good graduation rate but you demand 100% from us the residents of Lowden County the taxpayers of Lowden County so I and two demand 100% of you and the schools 100% graduation rate I also demand that the school produce students who are capable of dealing with the real world the real world is unfair the real world is not going to be nice to these children you need to prepare students to understand how the real world works I have seen too many graduates from Lowden County not able to handle basic math basic reading basic critical analysis and thinking this school board is in charge of providing a solid education and a foundation

169for our children if you cannot do that that without introducing any other nonsense like critical race Theory or any other nonsense and allowing things like that to happen in this school district then you do not belong behind that board you are a detriment to our children you do not carry or care about our children and what they become and they become a hindrance to society they need to be here you need to be here to help help them become stronger citizens not dependent on the government thank you very much Pisha karali I'm sorry I skipped Peter Leer by mistake feel free to correct me some members of lcps school board have stated that we have to pass policy 840 because the state mandates it I ask what are the consequences for my sons who are

170lcps students if they in good conscience refuse to use a preferred name or gender pronoun a violation of conscience is a very serious abuse of authority it is like forcing one to say the Pledge of Allegiance which is Supreme Court decided is a classic violation of the right of private conscience my family's Christian to us manipulation of conscience is a destructive force if we go against our conscience we are guilty of sin conscience must be respected it's a delicate instrument I'm a military veteran my daughter just graduated from lcps she earned a four-year Air Force RC scholarship to be quite Frank despite lcps my two sons now are going to be in lcps I never thought that I'd have to stand here today and defend them against a potential violation of their conscience why did

171I serve then what did I serve for my primary duty is to my faith and my family not to a radical Progressive progressives in Virginia's department of education do what is right vote like many other County School boards like Russell McAn in Virginia against these indefensible transgender policy mandates thank you I'm just gonna make sure Trisha caparell is not here thank you Carol [Music] kaarel dius christofi dear disgraced board members you think you're awoke well let me wake you a little bit more I'm a calan married to an armanian we are minorities of the minorities in this country our ancestors and people survived massacres of the Turks and the Isis I grew up in Iran as a Christian and when we went to school as much as the government wanted to indoctrinate us the teachers

172didn't allow it the teachers did their job teach us the curriculum science math biology Etc they didn't try to shove propaganda down our throats like the Ayatollah did now in the 21st century we have social social justice Warrior so-called teachers are trying to shove their garbage ideology down our kids throat these are our children not yours their job is not to raise my child or my neighbor's child their job is to teach our kids Math Science Biology literature and that's it not Ideology Now you want to push garbage craft like pronouns how the hell does I keep a kid from succeeding how does I help them does I teach them how to add you want to push that garbage down my kiss throat I will make you call my kids king and queen that's how

173we address my sons and my daughter and you you look at me you call me master you want that pronoun to be in your mouth when you look at me your garbage ideology is pure garbage don't be a dumb politic ition don't waste our money that we pay for we work for our money we pay taxes we pay for this damn building it doesn't belong to you to us please yield the mic sir lilet vaness Michelle mccan Dale Gilbert hi my name is Dale Gilbert I have two kids here in L County Public Schools um I don't know if you can see me or not but uh we our kids need critical thinking not critical race Theory uh I've took time out of work to come here to address all of you I have never

174done that in all my years uh both my kids go to L public County Public Schools I'm from Ashburn Virginia have not been busted here uh I just think it's ridiculous uh the I'm asking that to repeal policy 840 and that we stand up to the code of Virginia 221 233 and that we get rid of Governor Ralph Ralph noram and have someone step in to take care of us that uh we'll take care of our kids and keep things out of the uh out of that way the you know my uh daughter uh has been called a racist when she's from a family where uh I'm part native American and my my wife is a uh Hispanic and yet you know the the kind of stuff that's going on in school is just crazy

175um and I think you know we tried our we our family's Christian we try to teach our kids the truth and how can you be telling them the truth that that a girl is a boy and a boy is a girl and I don't feel secure leaving my kids going to to the use the bathroom with other kids that are different um if it's a boy's bathroom it should be boys and if it's girls it should be girls and Alice parin good evening thank you superintendent zegler and Schoolboard for all your hard work my name is Alice Parkin I represent the community Levy Association of Lowden County which promotes flourishing in our community we have no religious affiliation nor represent any political ideology we have been troubled by the ranker contention and divisiveness in our

176local Public Square especially regarding School issues we've taken a special interest in LC CPS policy 840 because it touches on deeply held and profound personal beliefs and because those with opposing views appeared to be talking past each other and unable to find Common Ground we recently initiated face-to-face meetings between leaders of lowden's lgbtq plus community and those that have serious religious concerns about 8040 we work to build trust by meeting with these groups separately and then we met together we had a profound EXP experience listening discussing and finding common ground together we reported this to you and sent proposed additions to 840 that were unanimously agreed upon by all including student privacy and safety suggestions we commend these recommendations to you for your consideration we believe this trust and conciliation approach is critical to to

177diffusing animosity and misunderstanding and to promoting respect and understanding we ask you to apply these Cooper methods to 840 and to other school matters in our County we also invite all on any side with an interest in fairness for all and a desire for a peaceful coexistence now and into the future to contact us thank you Monique D good evening my name is Monique dupy I'm Alden County resident I was not bust here I'm sure that when you woke up this morning you knew where you stood on policy 8040 you have heard many voices tonight I don't know that I would be able to change your minds In My Own Strength so I pray that tonight your eyes will have been open that your hearts are softened that your minds be renewed and that you

178would feel the truth and love of those speaking out against policy 8040 that you don't ignore the the discomfort that you feel when you are about to vote Yes that you would think about the other children whose privacy could be stripped away that Tanner cross and all other teachers would be protected after tonight that this policy would be stated in such a way that all students feel safe that you would realize that this policy can cause even more Division I pray that bullying would stop that the name calling would stop that in the end of all this that everyone would come together to protect the precious young children because they all matter I pray that in the end that God will show himself strong and he will thank you Chrissy de vinni good evening my

179name is Chrissy dein I'm the librarian at luck Elementary and this is my 15th year serving in ladden County Public Schools I'm speaking to thank you for protecting our lgbqt students I am the parent of two Laden County graduates who are both queer and I want to talk to you about identity but not theirs because theirs are not my stories to tell my identity the name on my birth certificate is Mary Christine kingles Smith I am not now nor I ever have been Mary it's the name on my driver's license my passport all the official documents but no one calls me Mary and if they do I don't answer because it's not who I am it's not that I want to be rude or disrespectful but I'm not marry as a fourth grader I can

180remember standing around every recess one day talking about our middle names and somebody asked what my middle name was and I said Christine and I was promptly told as only fourth graders Ken that I was wrong because no one would be stupid enough to name their kid Chrissy Christine so I said you didn't ask me what my first name was in high school it got to be a little crazier so in elementary school people knew how to say clinkle Smith because my family was very involved in the school and I have an older brother in high school I went on all girl high school so obviously Danny wasn't there and no one knew how to say cingle Smith and so what we do is Teachers when we get to that name on the list and

181we're terrified that we're going to say it wrong the teachers would say Mary and hope that Mary would tell them how to say kingles Smith which is a long name but I'm not married so I didn't answer and then at the end of the day I'd have to go to him and thank you please yield the mic Leslie Lee Carrington cunnington Laura Morris my name is Laura Morris I have been a teacher in Lowden County public schools for 5 years and a teacher for 10 in that time I have learned so much being on The Cutting Edge of educational technology and working with a diverse population of students that I have loved this year I have the privilege to follow my amazing fourth graders up to fifth and I have been excited about this all

182summer on the other hand this summer I have struggled with the idea of returning to school knowing that I'll be working yet again with the school division that despite its shiny Tech and flashy salary promotes political ideologies that do not square with who I am as a believer in Christ after reading about your lack of consideration for the growing population of concerned citizens in this division clearly evidenced by this empty room tonight where you shut the doors to the public as well as the emails sent by the superintendent last year reminding me that a dissenting opinion is not allowed even to be spoken in my personal life going so far as to send a form to my colleagues and I encouraging us to fill it out if we hear one another speaking against the controversial

183policies being promoted by this school board and adopted in this County not only that but within the last year I was told in one of my so-called Equity trainings that white Christian able-bodied females currently have the power in our schools and that quote this has to change clearly you've made your point you no longer value me or many other teachers you've employed in this County so since my contract outlines the power that you have over my employment in Lowden County Public Schools I thought it necessary to resign and front of you School Board I quit I quit your policies I quit your trainings and I quit being a cog and a machine that tells me to push highly politicized agendas on our most vulnerable constituents the children I will find employment elsewhere I encourage all

184parents and staff in this County to flood the private schools Tamara neelon Lisa Avery as a mother of four and 25-year Lowden resident I am here to speak for our country's greatest asset our children school is supposed to be a safe place of Higher Learning not a place that creates woke Godless citizens that don't value freedom and are taught to hate our country number one let our kids breathe and interact without masks two stop forcing CRT down their throats three God created two Sexes keep bathrooms and locker rooms gender born specific four reinstate Tanner cross five you were put on the school board to serve we the people but your actions today and in the past do not show that to be your intention may you keep God's children in the Forefront of your decisions

185and may God bless America Jeremy right teachers of lcps I want to ask you a question who speaks for you if you don't speak up someone else eventually speaks for you so who who speaks for you those who speak to the community on your behalf may not be saying what you think they're saying who speaks for you the Nea Lea whose ineffectual and cowardly represent presentation of teachers has forced tyrannical school lockdowns and made us the laughing stock of the Working World using our own money the Len County School Board who refused to allow this community to have a voice in the content of their children's education Who attack and punish those who question their tyrannical methods is it special interest organizations who impose extreme partisan politics into our schools and trainings at the cost

186of academic performance and a healthy school environment is it our superintendent who has lied repeatedly to the community to prop up these organizations and create the false sense that all is well teachers if you remain silent this will be who speaks for you you will be complicit in allowing a seizure of parental rights forced indoctrination of students to an extremist political ideology and deliberate sensorship of a large and diverse Community whose only desire is what our schools have always promis promise them a rigorous education that is transparent and bipartisan the parents and citizens who pay for our salaries buildings and resources who entrust us with their children are losing trust in teachers many are pulling students their students from lcps for homeschooling or private schools because they no longer believe our only goal is to

187provide a transparent and bipartisan education you stay silent but they still hear who speaks for you if like me you refuse to let corrupt organizations and bureaucrats use your voice to gain political power please yield the mic sir Jennifer stole good evening as a mother of four lcps students I don't know where to go or what to do after a year of pandemic homeschooling I thought lcps would return to normaly I registered all four of our kids for lcps but then you said masks would be required even for my kindergarten her heart sank when I told her and then you told me that boys who identify as girls while retaining their mail Anatomy will be permitted to use girls locker rooms and girls bathrooms my children gave me puzzled looks when I told them you

188see we teach our children that God made us male and female where are the school board's boundaries where does the absurdity and overreach of radical government stop absurd shutdowns an absurdly protracted period of distance learning that defied logic and data and an absurdly radical transgender policy that violates our children's privacy and safety when are we going to stop shaping policies around a minuscule minority 30 and 80 81,000 are transgender according to the statistics cited outside today 30 and 81,000 students why has Public School become so mired in extremist politics and a permissive culture that seems to celebrate the latest popular fads like gender fluidity I understand that trans gender students are here to stay and they have the right to a public education just as everyone else does but do not let biologically opposite sex

189students share bathrooms and locker rooms with my children it opens up the possibility of sexual assault molestation and rape how many boys are going to pretend to be non-binary and use this policy to gain access to partially clothed girls I know I am not alone in my sentiments LCP Paul wridge good evening my name is Paul waldridge I am a 50-year resident of Virginia and also very well educated parent of kids who are recent Virginia high school graduates a couple years ago I've been keeping up with the progress that this school board and our Virginia r Regulators have made in promoting the affirmative support and the rights of lgbtq students and other marginalized individuals I especially am proud that many of you are here to support policy 840 guidelines that affirm and support transgender kids

190in schools my kids are gay I have two of them one of them is transgender my transgender son came out in high school before any of these policies were were uh considered and contemplated he would have been he would have benefited greatly from policies like this um as his high school administrators were not prepared to support him fully at a time when he really needed it he was misgendered and bullied in school by teachers students and administrative staff he was denied access to the men's bathrooms so he had to hold in his urine all day long he was inappropriately questioned about his is genitals by one of his teachers who uh and these are just to name a few things that he was subject to he took it upon himself actually to educate the school

191administrators in his high school on how to support him the best and what his specific needs were no kid should have to play that role to educate School staff to on how to support him so I'm happy to see that that the L County Public School Board is now better prepared to support transgender students with affirmative non-discrimination policies and guidelines especially policy 8040 I applaud you in supporting this and one last thing I've also heard a lot of uh discussion about critical race theory for those of you who actually understand it I applaud you because it's a very uh sophisticated thing Robert Wallace Angela Wade good evening I'm a mother of six children three of whom graduated from ladden County Public Schools and I'm sure you're familiar with the term Matt is a wet hen

192I'm wet right now because of course we were standing outside in the lightning and rain but I'm mad because you guys are dropping the ball when it comes to taking care of our kids and I know that I loved hearing the gentleman speak in front of me he he is behind his kids he knows what they want but policy 8040 doesn't do that for all parents policy 8040 lets kids come in and without any parental knowledge decide what they're going to do for their entire life from that from that first moment they should have their parents alongside of them helping with this decision but you are taking away the potential for growth between parents and children taking that away and saying this child can make those decisions for themselves if a kid came in and

193had an eating disorder you wouldn't say yay you yes you are right what you think about yourself right now is just right gender dysphoria is something that needs to be counseled through and you're missing out on the chance to let people do that with their own children but my main sadness is the fact that you are losing teachers I mean the woman three minutes ago people like that love kids they love their job and they're good at what they do but sadly you're going to end up losing way too many of them thank you Christina oconnell I'm ready okay good evening you speak it starts can you reset the clock for her please sorry good evening I want to let the school board know that I would like you to reject the Virginia Department of

194education's dangerous model policies for the treatment of transgender students in Virginia Public Schools and not comply with the request or requirement that Len Implement these transgender and gender expansive policies or any policies proposed by the Virginia School Board Association that reference the Virginia code 22.1 to 22 to 23.3 which will incorporate the vdo's model policies and all the Constitutional violations therein this policy seriously jeopardizes students phys physical safety their bodily privacy their Mental Health social and academic development further it infringes on the rights of free speech freedom of religion and the ability of con to conscientiously object to teaching behavior and activities which are contrary to one's strongly held religious beliefs and forces one to participate therein it degrades and attempts to supersede and replace parental rights and Authority this is an infringement not only

195on the students the parents the Educators but also on our community at large and should not be adopted and implemented here louen County should reject this in total and send this message back to the state government so they can revise their policies to more accurately reflect the needs that of the full student constituency and the will of the people who elect them thank you very much board members at this time public comment is completed Miss Connell was our last speaker um Dr Ziggler I'm going to ask you at this time the amount of time it would take to set the room for the public to observe the rest of our meeting and then I'll ask the board to decide if they want to um recess now and come back tomorrow it I believe you said

196um earlier it could take up to an hour could you explain the process for opening the meeting up to the public yes ma'am we have to uh rearrange Furniture in this room to accommodate for public viewing that process will take about an hour with the crew that we have on uh on duty this evening we will then need time to rescreen the public who would want to come in and watch the business portion of the meeting and we estimate that process would take approximately 30 30 minutes so best guest is an hour and 30 minutes at that at this time board members I would ask if um I could get consensus as to whether we're going to proceed and ask staff to reorganize the room my personal opinion at this time is we had so

197many speakers in the end that were no longer here that we don't really have a viewing audience this evening and it would be best to come back tomorrow and recess the meeting can I see thumbs if you are in agreement with me and I cannot see Miss cor I oh I can see Miss corbo and Miss King over there so um Miss re ask you to make a motion to recess the meeting at this time I move that the laden County School Board recess this meeting and reconvene on Wednesday August 11 2021 at 5:30 p.m. in the Schoolboard meeting room located here at 21,000 Education court in Ashburn Virginia I further move that the ladden County School Board direct the clerk to post notice of the continuation of this meeting on the lcps website and

198Via all other channels lcps otherwise uses to notify the public of meetings and to arrange for the live streaming and broadcast of the meeting is there a second second seconded by Mr sakin is there any discussion seeing nine board members all in favor of the motion to recess until tomorrow at 5:30 please raise your hand and say I and I I'm also going to because the public cannot see Miss corbo please State your vote yes Miss King hi Miss Barts yes thank you that motion will carry 80 with Mr mahedi absent for the vote we stand in recess and we'll reconvene in this room tomorrow at 5:30 and the public will be allowed to view thank you w okay for e e e