Virginia Schools Assure Compliance with Parental Rights Laws

Under the looming threat of federal consequences for inaction, all 136 local education agencies in the commonwealth — including public schools, the Virginia Juvenile Justice Center and Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind — have officially assured  the Virginia Department of Education that they’re complying with parental rights laws.

On March 28, the U.S. Department of Education directed states to provide evidence that schools are complying with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) by April 30. These laws ensure parents have the right to inspect and review education records and student safety standards and to be notified annually about their rights, military recruiter access to their child, and the school’s overall compliance record.

The federal agency sought the information after explaining that it has been “overburdened” with reports of FERPA complaints that claim schools nationwide have been hiding information from parents, including gender transition records.

“As any mother would be, I have been appalled to learn how schools are routinely hiding information about the mental and physical health of their students from parents,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in a March 28 letter. “The practice of encouraging children down a path with irreversible repercussions — and hiding it from parents — must end.”

The agency warned schools that if they failed to comply, they would face an investigation and loss of federal funding.

The Virginia Department of Education, which provided the school compliance list to USDOE, stated all of the education agencies in the commonwealth “exceed” federal FERPA expectations by following state law, which sets “higher standards” for the disclosure of certain student data, such as contact information including addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers.

Under FERPA, the contact information may be designated as “directory information” and may be disclosed without the consent of a parent or eligible student, unless such person has opted out of such designation.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and his Republican colleagues have made parental rights a cornerstone of his administration and legislative efforts, repeatedly asserting that “a parent has a fundamental right to make decisions concerning the upbringing, education, and care of the parent’s child.”

Youngkin’s administration has enacted several measures to reinforce these rights, including policies requiring parents to be notified about drug overdoses and making mask-wearing in schools optional. The governor also adopted legislation mandating that parents be informed about sexually explicit instructional materials in school libraries.

Last month, the governor tried to amend a bill by adding language from Sage’s Law, a bill that would have required public school principals to notify at least one parent if a student questions their gender identity or requests the school’s participation in social affirmation or transition to a different sex or gender.

However, Youngkin’s amendment was rejected.

During the regular legislative session earlier this year, House lawmakers failed to take up the proposed Sage’s Law bill, carried by Del. Nick Freitas, R-Culpeper, for a second straight year. Freitas carried the bill that was first introduced by then-Republican Del. Dave LaRock during the 2023 General Assembly Session. The bill died in the Democratic-controlled Senate that year after passing through the House controlled by Republicans.

Last session, the General Assembly failed to consider the same bill, which Youngkin said “allows parents to be informed of the decisions relating to the mental health of their child.”

The failure of the Sage’s Law bill was one of the reasons why the governor last week vetoed a bill carried by Democrats, designed to encourage school boards to remind parents about the safe storage of firearms and prescription drugs.

He also added that the bill, as passed by the legislature, mainly concentrates on those two parental responsibilities, “omitting other legal obligations, like providing an environment free of abuse, neglect, and exploitation.”

by Nathaniel Cline, Virginia Mercury

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