Gang Rape? Porn on Library Shelves? What’s Happening in Fairfax County, Virginia, Schools?

Virginia public faculties proceed to be a focus of controversy as dad and mom and college board members butt heads over a slew of points, from transgender insurance policies and sexual assault to pornographic books in libraries.

Final month, Fairfax County got here into the highlight when father or mother Stacy Langton confronted the college board over sexually graphic books discovered at a college library.

WARNING: The next video incorporates graphic content material that some viewers will discover offensive.

Ultimately night time’s @FCPSNews college board assembly, courageous mother Stacy Langton revealed porn + pedophilia in library books. The board lower her mic + fled however I used to be in a position to document Stacy. Mother and father yelled, “Disgrace!” on the board for turning the county into #Fairfaxxx. No relaxation for @defendinged pic.twitter.com/efbT6c79H2

— Asra Q. Nomani 🐻Mama Bear “White Supremacist”🧸 (@AsraNomani) September 24, 2021

The books’ pornographic pictures and descriptions of sexual acts between minors sparked a parental outcry. The varsity board pulled the books from cabinets and is now reviewing them.

Fairfax County College Board chair Stella Pekarsky spoke to The Western Journal concerning the assessment of the books.

Two committees will probably be concerned within the course of, every consisting of two lecturers, two dad and mom, one college administrator, one member of an “Fairness and Cultural Responsiveness group,” and two highschool college students.

The varsity district desires libraries to offer sources that “affirm college students of their identification, tradition, and background,” Pekarsky wrote in an e-mail.

She added that one of many functions of library supplies is to “meet the data wants of scholars making an allowance for numerous pursuits, skills, backgrounds, studying ranges, maturity ranges, native languages, and college students’ extracurricular pursuits.”

Nevertheless, many dad and mom are objecting to the books in query as a result of they merely don’t need their youngsters uncovered to such content material at school.

“I anticipate [schools] to tread much more cautiously on the subject of intercourse as a result of they’re accountable for my children throughout that point,” Bethany Wagner, a former Fairfax County Public Colleges father or mother, informed The Western Journal.

“Not all households are this flippant and open about intercourse at such a younger age. They’re simply not. And I don’t need my children to be round that. Positive, I could also be a prude, however I don’t care. I don’t care in the event that they assume I’m a prude.”

On prime of the e-book controversy, Fairfax County faculties are additionally coping with reports of sexual assaults.

In response to the Daily Wire, one woman mentioned she was slashed with a knife, burned with a lighter and gang-raped on a center college campus when she was 12 years outdated. One other got here ahead with allegations that she was assaulted on a college journey, however {that a} college safety officer informed her it wasn’t price pursuing prison fees.

Naturally, dad and mom and communities have erupted. Asra Q. Nomani, a former Wall Avenue Journal reporter and Fairfax father or mother, even wrote an article entitled “Sure, Virginia, we have now a rape tradition disaster in Okay-12 faculties.”

Why are these points plaguing Virginia schools?

Wagner urged that they’re a symptom of a deeper downside.

In 2020, the Virginia Basic Meeting handed laws requiring the state Division of Training to develop insurance policies concerning the remedy of transgender students.

The division’s model policies encourage faculties to “decrease social stigmatization for [transgender] college students and maximize alternatives for social integration so that every one college students have an equal alternative to attend college, be engaged, and obtain tutorial success.”

The insurance policies and definitions, nevertheless, are fairly broad and depart implementation and extra particular regulation to native college boards and directors. The state imposed tips however supplied little readability, in response to Wagner.

“The varsity board assembly the place they really adopted protections for trans college students, it was very contentious. However on the identical time, the college board did nothing to speak implementation to form of calm these fears,” Wagner mentioned.

“They did nothing, nothing. The dialogue was principally saying, , ‘We’re going to combat for trans rights and we’re not going to let these terrible individuals … hurt our trans college students.’”

Wagner identified that the definition of “gender expression” within the college insurance policies made the implementation of guidelines particularly exhausting.

The insurance policies outline gender expression as “the way by which an individual represents or expresses their gender identification or position to others, usually via look, clothes, hairstyles, habits, actions, voice, or mannerisms. Gender expression could change over time and from day-to-day and isn’t essentially associated to the individual’s gender identification.”

If “gender expression” can change from each day, how are lecturers presupposed to deal with their college students?

“This doc addresses how lecturers and employees ought to tackle transgender and non-binary college students, they usually’re telling them that gender can change from each day. So this places lecturers and oldsters in a bizarre place,” Wagner mentioned.

The insurance policies additionally permit for college students to make use of no matter restrooms they select.

“I assist a transgender pupil who has come out and principally established themselves as transgender utilizing no matter toilet they select, however that is getting somewhat bit wishy-washy for me,” Wagner mentioned.

“These are Okay-12 faculties. There’s going to be numerous immature habits, , pushing boundaries, hormones raging. This doesn’t appear to be simply carried out by the employees and, contemplating the place we’re at in our neighborhood and the continued discussions about [cancel culture] and, , wokeism, I’m involved that perhaps lecturers … received’t step in and proper immature or outright dangerous habits due to this. They’re put in a really awkward place.”

Wagner mentioned she has heard straight from teachers that they’re uncomfortable with how these insurance policies are being dealt with and carried out. Academics have informed her that the insurance policies don’t make sense and that they aren’t getting clear route from directors.

The transgender insurance policies are reaching past training and into politics, as Wagner has skilled firsthand.

“We’ve got 12 college board members, 12 of them. And through the public conferences for this, none of them clearly communicated or referenced any of those hot-button sections that oldsters are citing. And as a substitute, they’re specializing in the very far-right emotional response,” Wagner mentioned.

Wagner herself has all the time voted Democrat — till this yr.

“I assume I’m getting form of sick of the one-party rule in Fairfax County and northern Virginia. , the whole college board is Democrats — all of them, which is okay. Nevertheless, there’s a groupthink happening they usually all principally align themselves with the Democrat form of talking factors,” she mentioned.

In response to Wagner, this lack of communication from the college board had been happening even earlier than the transgender insurance policies had been handed down from the state. It actually started with the coronavirus pandemic and was sufficient for Wagner to tug her two youngsters out of public college.

“They’re extraordinarily risk-averse through the COVID response. … And when dad and mom elevate questions, we’re belittled. They attempt to silence us with the ‘oh, you’re a Trumper’ bulls***,” Wagner mentioned.

With a lot controversy surrounding Virginia public faculties, Wagner is circulating petitions to recall college board members. This isn’t the primary recall effort that Fairfax has seen.

In July, the Fairfax County Times reported {that a} petition to recall college board member Elaine Tholen had collected over 5,000 signatures. Although a decide dismissed the recall effort, it confirmed that Fairfax dad and mom had been beginning to query the college board and changing into involved about how politics had been swaying its selections.

“They can’t lead, they can not formulate a plan, they can not separate themselves from their private ideological politics,” mentioned Zia Tompkins, a father or mother and member of the FCPS Accountability Coalition.

College boards throughout Virginia have turn out to be a battleground. Many individuals are merely asking college board members to place their politics apart and hear to oldsters’ considerations.

“Many have accused our group of being political, and that is false. Our group doesn’t care a couple of political affiliation,” mentioned Saundra Davis, an FCPS father or mother who additionally mentioned she is a Democrat.

“We’ve got watched the college board persistently place social gathering politics, geopolitical points and different social justice initiatives forward of their important duties.”