Va. school board blocks release of gender identity documents ahead of Election Day

A Virginia school board has filed a lawsuit that blocks until after Election Day Tuesday the public release of documents on a controversial transgender policy, prompting several candidates for the board to say Monday that voters now must toss the incumbents.

Several documents released last week under Freedom of Information Act requests filed by Judicial Watch have revealed that Fairfax County Public School district board members already began implementing policy changes to accommodate transgender students before hastily voting on the gender identity policy amendment in May. 

The documents also revealed that the school board had moved to hire a transgender identity consultant on the night of the vote and had been paying him without a written contract. 

But the documents released last week are just a few of the many that have been requested by Judicial Watch, and the others are now being withheld until after Election Day. 

In a joint statement on Monday, seven candidates running to oust the sitting board members said the lawsuit demonstrates the school board’s disregard for parents and called on voters to “clean house,” on Tuesday. 

“Refusing to release information, rightfully requested by citizens, is the height of arrogance and suggests there is something to hide. The majority of the board has stopped listening to the community, and it’s time for them to go,” the candidates said.

The seven candidates include three at-large hopefuls: Jeanette Hough, Bob Copeland and Manar Jean-Jacques. The four candidates hoping to represent specific districts are Mark Wilkinson in Hunter Mill, Peter Kurzenhauser in Dranesville, Anthony Stacy in Mount Vernon and Tom Wilson in Sully.

FCPS is the largest school district in Virginia and the tenth largest in the country. The school system’s policy changes are usually adopted across all Virginia school and it is likely they could domino into other school districts across the country.