Local News
Residents Denounce ‘Dangerous’ Transgender Policies for WCPS Students
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s recently released transgender policies for K-12 students should not be implemented in Warren County Public Schools (WCPS), according to some residents, who think the model policies could pose dangerous risks for students.
Youngkin’s 2023 transgender policies were developed by the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) in response to state bills that were enacted by the 2020 Virginia General Assembly and are known as Model Policies on Ensuring Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for All Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools.
Pursuant to Section 22.1-23.3 of the Code of Virginia, the document serves as a model for local school boards, which, by law, had to implement their own policies consistent with the state’s model policies by the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year.
Rather than develop new policies based on the new model policies, the Warren County School Board in 2021 voted 3-2 to adopt Youngkin’s transgender policy changes, which removed some of the protections afforded to transgender students under the previous Northam administration.
For instance, the 2023 policies:
- Require students to use school bathrooms that match the sex they were assigned at birth “except to the extent that federal law otherwise requires;” and
- Require school division personnel to refer to each student using only the pronouns “appropriate to the sex appearing in the student’s official record.
In contrast, the former Northam administration’s policies allowed students to use names and pronouns that reflected their gender identity without “any substantiating evidence,” among others.
Jackie Stocker, a local mother of a transgender child, told School Board members during the community participation segment of their Aug. 2 regular meeting that the state policies finalized on July 18 by Youngkin’s administration could place LGBTQ youth in danger.
Such children, she said, are often subjected to unjust biases, exclusion, and in some cases, violence, even at home.
“Keeping this in mind, it’s paramount that we tread carefully, particularly when it comes to revealing their identity to others,” Stocker told the board members. “Outing someone is not just a breach of trust; it can lead to devastating consequences for the child.”
For instance, outing a transgender student could lead to physical and emotional abuse, she said, and they potentially could be denied their rights to freedom of expression, privacy, and safety.
“LGBTQ kids matter. They have a right to exist the same as you or I. If you require this [policy], then you’ll personally be responsible for increased risks of suicide,” Stocker said, pointing to national data reports that show a rise in suicide among such students when they do not consent to having their gender identity revealed to their parent or guardian.
Connor Trevor, who also lives in Warren County and is a former WCPS student, said that all transgender kids deserve an environment where they feel safe and respected, and he asked the board to reconsider implementing Youngkin’s policy.
“You must recognize that disclosing their gendered identity to their parents might not always be safe or affirming to them,” Trevor said. “By maintaining confidentiality for transgender students, you create a haven where they can freely express themselves without fear of repercussions.”
Many transgender youth, he added, grapple with the fear of rejection, misunderstanding, or even harm from their own families, all of which can negatively impact their mental health and overall well-being. Trevor urged the board members to consider policies that would empower students to make their own decisions about their personal lives, including the timing and manner of disclosing their gender identity to their parents.
And Trevor said the board should instead consider devising its own policy that would serve “as an important ally in the fight against discrimination and marginalization.”
“By safeguarding the privacy of transgender students,” Trevor said, “you demonstrate a commitment to valuing each student for who they are, contributing to a more compassionate and accepting society.
“And if you ever ask yourself ‘what would Jesus do?’” he concluded, “flipping tables is not outside the realm of possibility.”
Stevie Hubbard, another County resident who is the mom to two WCPS graduates, acknowledged to the School Board that the transgender policies are a complex issue.
On one hand, Hubbard said, as a parent, she would want to know what her child was experiencing and to be able to help guide her child as he or she navigated the possibility of being transgender. “I do understand; I would be offended as a parent if you didn’t tell me something, so I get that,” said Hubbard. “But also, as a parent, there’s nothing that my children could reveal to me about themselves that would make me love them any less.”
And while she’d like to think most parents feel the same way, Hubbard said she realizes that they don’t, “and that poses a big danger to students that are having these conflicts, and that’s my concern,” she said.
“We have to be very crafty with whatever policy we decide to adopt to make sure that if a kid isn’t being listened to if they aren’t being heard, that we are providing some kind of shield of protection for them, as well,” Hubbard added.
School Board Chair Kristen Pence, Vice Chair Ralph Rinaldi, and board members Antoinette Funk, Andrea Lo, and Melanie Salins were present during the meeting.
Rinaldi thanked Trevor and the parents for speaking to the board members about the transgender policies, which were not an agenda item for the board’s Aug. 2 meeting.
“Be assured, I will always try and do the best I can for all students in Warren County,” he said. “It’s just not a specific group, whether a kid’s a ball player and they need assistance in that or a transgender kid. I will try my best to make sure that these kids are protected within whatever we can do.”
Salins sent a statement to the Royal Examiner pointing out that because the School Board in 2021 voted to adopt the 2023 transgender policy changes, “our district does not need to vote on the matter because the new policy will automatically be implemented.”
She added that the new policy ensures the protection of all students, honors parental rights, requires schools to notify parents within 24 hours of any incident of bullying, and requires schools to partner with parents to serve the needs of all children. “I would encourage everyone to read the full text of the policy,” Salins said in her statement. [To read the 2023 transgender policies in their entirety, go HERE.]
Board Chair Pence told the Royal Examiner in an interview this afternoon that no changes are being made to the district’s non-discrimination policy and that a new form is being developed by WCPS administrators that must be filled out giving parental consent if a student wants to use a different name and/or pronoun.
“We are required to have this document on file that the parent is consenting to their child’s preference,” Pence said. “We don’t have the form available yet, and there’s a mad rush to make sure families do have it before school starts [on Aug. 9].”
Pence said the form hopefully will be available by Monday and for Back-to-School night. “If families want to call their base school and speak to the principal about the form, we encourage them to do so,” she said.
The board chairwoman also said it’s important for families to know that WCPS is not changing a child’s school record, just what the child wants to be called at school.
“Some of the parents who spoke at our meeting this past week seemed worried we’d be calling parents and singling students out,” Pence said. “That’s not the case. The form is required and has to be submitted showing there’s parental consent for the student to use a different name.”
Board actions
“My inspiration for the logo was the two high schools,” Bourgain told the board. “I knew that I wanted their mascots, the hawk and the wildcat, to be the focal point,” so she drew them silhouetted and in black.Bourgain also said that the mountains in the background and the bushes in the foreground showcase the beauty of the local area and town, as well as the school system.
“I am extremely grateful that I was even considered for this, and I am very, very thankful to be given this opportunity,” Bourgain told the board.
Bourgain was the 1st place winner among three finalists and won a $500 scholarship to use upon graduation. Kami King, who attends Skyline Middle School, won 2nd place and a $250 scholarship to use upon graduation; and 3rd place went to Luke Natalie, a Skyline Middle School student who won a $100 scholarship to use upon graduation.
Board Vice Chair Rinaldi thanked the student participants for their hard work.
“Whenever you get that type of participation, and people take ownership, that’s what these students did. They stepped up, and they took ownership, and they were successful, all of them,” he said.
In other action, the board unanimously approved:
- The modified Policy GAE Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting requires all school employees to report child abuse and neglect directly to the local Department of Social Services or to the Virginia Department of Social Services toll-free child abuse and neglect hotline and to the person in charge of the school or department. The policy update also includes yearly training by all school staff.
- $22,650 to be used from the Leslie Fox Keyser Elementary School (LFK) Renovation Contingency fund to add window blinds for classrooms at the elementary school. The window coverings will serve as both a means of safety and light adjustment, according to WCPS staff.
- Rate increases/renewal addendum to the 2023-24 contract for ESS Northeast LLC, the school division’s substitute teacher provider. To stay competitive with neighboring districts, WCPS recommended having a differential in pay between degreed and non-degreed substitute teacher placements. Currently, both positions have the same rate. The majority of divisions offer a higher pay rate to degreed substitutes than those non-degreed, WCPS Personnel Director Jody Lee told the board.
“This has also been a concern expressed by current degree substitutes in the lack of separation devalues their credentials,” he said. “In addition, we do not currently have a rate for a long-term IA [instructional assistant] that is often requested.”
Click here to watch the School Board’s Aug. 2 meeting in its entirety.
Local News
Congratulations to Warren County High School Seniors – Class of 2024
Royal Examiner presents the Warren County High School Class of 2024. Congratulations to these wonderful seniors on their hard work and deserved accomplishments! We wish you the best in your next big endeavors. Photos courtesy of Victor O’Neill Studios and Tolliver Studios, LLC.
If your Warren County senior is not listed, please send in their Name and Senior Picture to news@royalexaminer.com.
Local News
Fairfax Police Officer, Son of WC Deputy Jim Williams One of This Year’s Fairfax Valor Awards Recipients
At the Thursday, April 11 Fairfax County Valor Awards ceremony, Fairfax County Police Officer Cody Williams, son of Warren County Sheriff’s Office Deputy and Bailiff Jim Williams, and two colleagues were among the 2023 honorees. We asked proud father Jim about the incident late last year that led to his son and fellow officers’ recognition. This is what he told us:
“On December 25th, Christmas Day, at 9 p.m., members of the Fairfax County Police Department Reston District Station responded to a shot person call. According to his wife, the homeowner had accidentally shot himself while cleaning his handgun. Officers Cody Williams, Andrew Craven, and Anthony Galindo arrived on the scene to find the homeowner unresponsive. The gunshot wound was to the victim’s left calf, resulting in an extreme loss of blood. Williams and Craven applied two tourniquets, and Galindo performed CPR. The victim was transported to the local hospital. He was able to make a full recovery.”
We were also informed of comments by Fairfax Police Chief Kevin Davis, who made an analogy to his officers’ Christmas Day call and the 1947 Hollywood movie classic “It’s a Wonderful Life” starring Jimmy Stewart. As fans of that great and timeless film will recall, it had its own Christmas day event of a somewhat miraculous nature involving a Guardian Angel. And indeed, it will be “a Wonderful Life” for the injured man and his family moving forward due to the prompt actions of their “guardian angels” Officers Williams, Craven, and Galindo, among others at the scene.
We found this background on the Fairfax Valor Awards website:
“The Fairfax County Valor Awards recognize the remarkable achievements in service of our community’s dedicated first responders. Since 1979, members of our police, sheriff, fire and rescue, and public safety communications have been honored for exceeding the call of duty with their lifesaving acts. The Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce is proud to host this prestigious event.” In attempting to get photos of the Christmas Day “guardian angels” from even sponsor the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce, we were informed individual shots were not taken due to the number of recipients from the past year. This year, a total of 240 awards were presented, including 84 Lifesaving Awards, 131 Certificates of Valor, 22 Bronze Medals of Valor, and 3 Silver Medals of Valor.
Congratulations to Officers Williams, Craven and Galindo for a Christmas Day first response well done, and one that at least two Reston residents may remember as their very own Christmas miracle, circa 2023.
And thanks to our own WCSO Deputy Jim Williams for alerting us to this nearby Happy Ending Christmas story. And also a nod toward our own first responders in Warren County and the Town of Front Royal for all they do daily for us. You’re ALL Valor Award winners to us!!!
Community Events
Valley Chorale Announces Upcoming Spring Concerts in Middletown and Front Royal
The Valley Chorale presents “Wishing On a Song – Music in the Key of Hope”, a spring concert exploring aspirations of love, home, spirituality and compassion that unite and uplift us all. With styles ranging from light classical and sacred to vocal jazz, spirituals and pop, The Valley Chorale strives to capture the hopes that unite us.
The Valley Chorale is known throughout the Shenandoah Valley for innovation and excellence, with piano, cello and percussion accompaniment, and their concerts are often a heart-warming experience for all. They welcome babies and tots, so no need to hire a babysitter.
Tickets can be purchased on their website TheValleyChorale.org — $15 for age 21+ (free under age 21) or at the door for $17.
SATURDAY, MAY 4, 3:00 – 4:15 PM
Belle Grove Plantation (Bank Barn), 336 Belle Grove Road, Middletown, VA
SUNDAY, MAY 5, 3:00 – 4:15 PM
First Baptist Church, 14 W. 1st Street, Front Royal, VA (Community Reception to follow)
For further information, visit the website: TheValleyChorale.org: follow them on Facebook; email them at TheValleyChorale@gmail.com or call at 540-635-4842.
(From a Release by The Valley Chorale)
Local News
Gifted and Exceptionally Motivated Former Students of Mountain Vista Governor’s School Inducted into Foundation Hall of Fame
On the evening of Saturday, April 27, beginning at 5 p.m. in the cafeteria at Warren County High School, the Mountain Vista Governor’s School Foundation hosted a donor reception followed by an induction of two former MVGS students into their hall of fame. In the names of those former students, two scholarships will be awarded in the amount of two hundred dollars each to students in need.
One of nineteen regional governor’s schools in Virginia, Mountain Vista Governor’s School for Math, Science, and Technology, is present at two locations, on Laurel Ridge Community College’s Warrenton campus and the Middletown campus. MVGS draws and actively seeks out gifted, exceptionally motivated students from the thirteen base schools it serves in Clarke, Frederick, Warren, Culpeper, Fauquier, Rappahannock, and Winchester. Splitting their time between their base schools and MVGS, these students, in Middletown or Warrenton, depending on the counties in which their base schools are located, are given a chance to take advanced courses, including ones in humanities that, if they opt for dual enrollment, may help them skip the first two years of college. Government funding allows MVGS to welcome students into its tuition-free program. But if the students desire dual enrollment in connection with Laurel, wherein they receive college credit for their courses, then tuition becomes necessary. Attendance at MVGS involves an application, and there is a limit to the number of student places that can be filled in during any given school year.
Saturday evening was a showcase of rising talent in the MVGS system, as well as testimonies to the caliber of its program as two former students who benefited from MVGS and have gone on to have brilliant careers were given the opportunity to speak about how much they value their educational history at the governor’s school and how it uniquely prepared them to excel. The Foundation, separate from the school itself, is concerned with fundraising on behalf of the school so that students can be supplied with the tools and other resources they need to receive their education. Because of those assets made accessible by the Foundation, the two students who spoke were effusive about what a great foundation they had for future success. The rigor they underwent prepared them to maximize the challenges ahead.
A good example of the type of excellence students are encouraged to achieve in the program is the artificial intelligence project undertaken by Tamara Otten, which was displayed at the event. Tamara will soon take her project to an international competition in Los Angeles. She is exploring the possibility that AI could be trained to detect filtered images. This has ramifications for mental health as young people would then be able to discern that many of the images that they are being bombarded with on the Internet are not genuine. Therefore, they should not compare themselves to those unrealistic standards. In Tamara’s mind, this is just the beginning.
The evening also featured an auction of student-created artwork and a bag raffle. The members of what was an intimate gathering went home with leftovers of Devin Smith’s culinary art. Smith is an expert chef known for his involvement with Reaching Out Now, another organization reaching young people, specifically in Warren County.
Local News
As Opening of Youth Center Draws Near, the Reaching Out Now Family Looks to the Past for Inspiration
As Samantha Barber and Toby Hire sat, side by side, holding hands on April 26 in a yet-to-be-furnished room of the Raymond E. Santmyers Student Union and Activity Center in Front Royal, Virginia, there was a very real sense of water, which is stopped by nothing. “Water is my serenity,” Samantha said in this conversation with the Royal Examiner. It maneuvers its way around any obstacle in its path, if not eroding the obstacle altogether, and that is precisely what the Reaching Out Now (RON) family, of which Samantha is the president, has done in its endeavor to provide Front Royal and the wider Warren County region with a youth center, opening soon, where students can come to play, relax, have fun, develop strong bonds of friendship, and explore what they want to do with their futures.
The youth center is necessary, and the stakes are life and death. The brilliant lives and tragic early departures of Harlee Hire and Nathan Jenkins, the first to suicide and the second to a boating accident, inform the RON family of their mission to reach young people. There is this awareness that life is incredibly fragile, and the only way to face it is through community. It is as simple as asking: “Are you okay?” That is precisely what RON intends to do through the youth center so that young people in Harlee’s position do not fall through the cracks.
Harlee loved water. And by all appearances, she could overcome any obstacle. Through tears, “She was a great friend,” her mother Toby said as Samantha gripped her hand. Harlee practiced radical encouragement. It was not uncommon to hear her yelling shameless compliments like: “Your butt is looking fine today!” And even in the early months of 2022, after her friend Nathan’s boating accident in January and before she attempted suicide on May 10 and officially passed on May 11 and the Honor Walk donation of her organs on May 13 at UVA, she clung tenaciously to life. “I am going to do this, Miss Sam,” she told Samantha at a fashion show RON was hosting. And she walked down the runway.
“It is a sacrificial gift,” Samantha said of the youth center. “Nathan would have loved this,” Susan Jenkins said, standing outside the Santmyers building in May of 2023, and as soon as she said it, it began to rain. Indeed, a little fall of rain can hardly hurt me now, to quote the musical production of Les Miserables. There is a very real sense that both Harlee and Nathan continue to live through the youth center as the RON family remembers them and strives to reach young people in their position. Especially Harlee’s. While it is impossible to predict an accident like the one that occurred for Nathan, Samantha, and Toby both feel strongly that intervention is possible in the case of young people who are struggling with mental health issues.
In fact, May will be Mental Health Awareness Month for RON as they host three different athletic events in memory of Harlee and Nathan through their Safe at Home program. On May 9, a varsity girls’ softball game will be held at Skyline High School at 6 p.m. They will host a community baseball day on May 11, between 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the Bing Crosby Stadium. And on May 25 at Skyline High School from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., they will host a community softball day. In order to get tickets, go to reachingoutnow.org
There is no need to be perfect. Samantha is frank about the impact this trauma has had on her health. “You have rheumatoid arthritis,” a doctor told her. He explained that she had internalized so much psychological pain that it had a very real manifestation in her physical health. But this is just one more obstacle that can be overcome through the support of friends offering real, physical comfort. You can be broken, Toby said. It is okay. It is the broken kids that RON wants to reach. If you are in trouble at school, we understand, Samantha emphasized. If you have weed in your backpack, we understand. This is not a matter of selecting the crème de la crème of students who are already gifted and exceptionally motivated. It is a matter of reaching all the kids and helping them understand their potential.
In the unfurnished room at the youth center, a room named in honor of Nathan and intended to be a game room, the Nate (DAWG) Game Room, Samantha, and Toby agree wholeheartedly that there is nothing wrong with just playing games if you are not playing them alone. Toby said this is the most connected yet disconnected age. The goal of the youth center is to help young people connect authentically.
Community Events
Updated: ‘Phony Ponies’ Give a Competitive Edge to FR Rotary Downtown Pub Crawl Fundraiser
On Friday, April 26, the Front Royal Rotary sponsored a downtown Front Royal “Pub Crawl” featuring a Phony Ponies “horse race” ticket holders could bet on to add to the Rotary fundraiser, and a little reward for their knowledge of the relative prowess and breeding of the involved Phony Ponies. Or as one pre-race announcer informed the crowd, “We’ve got three stallions and two old mares in this race,” which was met by some boos from the filly-supporting contingent.
And it was one of those two filly mares that led the five-horse field across the finish line after three laps around the Gazebo in the in the Main Street Downs Raceway shortly after 7:30 p.m. — that was “Blazin’ Botox” (Warren County Sheriff Crystal Cline), followed in order by “Money for Nothing” (Front Royal Rotary President Ken Evans), “Closing Real Fast” (Front Royal Police Chief Kahle Magalis), “Bullseye” (Warren County Rotary President Michael Williams), and “The Old Gray Mare” or was that “Mayor” (Front Royal Mayor Lori Cockrell).
It was a highly competitive race with some post finish line challenges offered by runner up Money for Nothing, whose jockey Evans noted an unapproved by the Racing Commission pre-race change into borrowed running shoes by the winner, as well as some out-of-my-lane territorial elbow-bumping by Blazin’ Botox to keep him in his 2nd place position. WAIT, do horses have elbows? I guess phony ones do.
Jockey Cockrell explained her disappointing 5th place finish, noting she had locked in behind Bullseye/Williams early in the running. However, it ended up being a bad spot to draft, as Bullseye appeared to be having an equipment break-down in front of her, as in a drooping “saddle” threatening that stallions stability and which she had to pull back from for caution’s sake.
On the more serious side, the second annual Talk Derby To Me Pub Crawl fundraiser was in support of Rotary International’s eradicate polio worldwide effort. More information about Rotary’s efforts to end polio can be found at this website: https://www.rotary.org/en/our-causes/ending-polio
Involved and supporting downtown businesses included Vibrissa, the On Cue Sports Bar & Grill, Buckle & Belle Boutique, sponsor of the “Phony Ponies” race, C&C Frozen Treats, Pavemint Smoking Taphouse, Honey & Hops, Catamount Lounge, and Garcia & Gavino. Hope we didn’t miss anyone, and we’ll update as necessary if we did.
And in a late update, individual sponsoring of the Phony Ponies was provided by: Ken Evans, ReMax Reality sponsoring Evans on “Money For Nothing”; CSM Aesthetics sponsored “Blazin’ Botox” and jockey Cline; Clint Pierpoint, Next Home Reality Select sponsored “Closing Real Fast” with Chief Magalis on the saddle; Lori Cockrell for Mayor sponsored “The Old Grey Mare” with the mayor riding; and Shenandoah Valley Axe Throwing Co. sponsored the saddle-failing “Bullseye” with Williams keeping his stallion upright.
And if you missed the fun and excitement, here are a few more shots.