The FCPS administration and Board of Education have repeatedly taken the position that parents can always opt out of the Health lessons that introduce gender expression in elementary school. Unfortunately, that doesn’t stop the counselors from using gender expression books and materials with students they counsel (as one FCPS counselor reportedly bragged about on Facebook) or the replacement of biological gender references with gender-neutral terms in Math questions (as reported by Truth and Transparency), or the multiple examples of teacher’s pro-actively and independently soliciting gender pronoun from students using FCPS forms, or the formal position that FCPS will not notify parents of an alternative gender choice if the students say not to. Gender expression concepts are integrated into the culture of the schools and portrayed as a normal part of self-discovery. No opt-out program is going to work in that environment. It is just window-dressing.

Parents should make it a point to attend the Board of Education meeting at 6:00 pm on February 8th to learn more about their positions and plans. We will be there, as will others addressing the shift away from academics and the FCPS positions opposing parental notifications.