Search Results for: Kilgannon

Concerned Parents Applaud Trump Administration’s Preservation of Title IX Protections

Concerned Parents Applaud Trump Administration’s

Preservation of Title IX Protections

 

Fairfax, VA – Tonight Civil Rights offices of the Departments of Justice and Education released a long awaited revision of guidance on the application of Title IX to transgender students.

“Concerned Parents and Educators in Virginia and across the country are relieved by this clarification from the Trump Administration,” explained Meg Kilgannon, Executive Director of Concerned Parents and Educators. “The Departments of Justice and Education have formally rescinded the reckless and harmful guidance previously offered on this controversial issue. Title IX protections for women and girls are too important to sacrifice on the altar of an imagined new class of civil rights for the gender confused. Similarly, public schools are for everyone, including people of Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or other faiths, whose beliefs were ignored and insulted under previous guidance.”

“Parents and teachers everywhere deplore bullying and harassment,” she continued, “Especially when it takes the form of the invasion of intimate spaces by persons of the opposite biological sex. Students and school communities do not need heavy-handed, top down federal guidance to ‘ensure that all students, including LGBT students, are able to learn and thrive in a safe environment.’ Local communities and school districts across the Commonwealth of Virginia — Fairfax, Prince William, Loudoun County and beyond —  can now have a reasoned conversation about how to best accommodate ALL children and students, including those struggling with gender identity issues. Parents and families must be respected as the primary educators of children rather than overpowered by the reckless overreach of federal bureaucracies or special interest groups.”

“Concerned Parents and Educators thanks President Trump, Attorney General Sessions, and Secretary DeVos for returning authority to local communities in the resolution of this controversial matter. We await with great anticipation the decision in the Gloucester County case and look forward to working with school officials on the state and local level to create educational environments of achievement and success for all students,” Kilgannon concluded.

Concerned Parents and Educators is a diverse coalition of parents, teachers, and stakeholders in Northern Virginia. For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact 703-507-5998.

 

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Concerned Parents on SCOTUS decision to hear VA Case

CPEFC on Supreme Court Decision to Hear VA Case

(Fairfax, VA) Concerned Parents and Educators of Fairfax County (CPEFC) released a statement today regarding the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Gloucester County School Board v. G.G., probably sometime this winter.

“This case will have far reaching implications for students in both Gloucester and Fairfax Counties, around the Commonwealth, and across the country. Issues of privacy, personal safety, and respect for religious and cultural values will be important factors for the Justices to consider. Many individual rights conflict in this case. We look forward to a ruling that maintains common sense protections for personal spaces of women and children and the protection of gains for women made under Title IX.

“While this case deals with bathroom privacy, the implications for student locker rooms and hotel rooms must not be forgotten. The Supreme Court must uphold fundamental truths about the dignity of each human person and protect personal spaces for both men and women,” said Meg Kilgannon, Executive Director of Concerned Parents and Educators of Fairfax County.

Fairfax County Public School’s controversial Policy 1450 regarding treatment of transgendered students and staff is on hold pending the outcome of this decision. Parents have voiced strong objection to Policy 1450 since its speedy passage in May of 2016.

“Regardless of the Supreme Court’s decision on this particular case, our society has to grapple with these issues and determine how to preserve the rights of those most vulnerable, protect children from dangerous fads of pseudoscience, and treat all people with dignity and respect,” Kilgannon concluded.

CPEFC Congratulates Prince William County Parents

Fairfax, VA — Concerned Parents and Educators of Fairfax County (CPEFC) today released the following statement regarding the win for parents in Prince William County last night.

“Because parents spoke out on behalf of all children in Prince William, the School Board in Prince William County was forced to delay a final vote on changing their nondiscrimination policy to include sexual orientation and gender identity. It is wonderful to see parents engaging in this debate. When parents get involved, the community wins,” explained Meg Kilgannon, Executive Director.

“When we faced this situation in Fairfax, we had a compressed timeline for debate which was designed to eliminate public involvement or parent comment. We see now, by virtue of what happened in Prince William, why Fairfax County School Board Chairman (at the time) Pat Hynes used such heavy-handed, debate-stifling tactics. Parents know and can articulate why these policy overreaches are unneeded, illegal, and end up creating more problems than they solve,“ Kilgannon continued.

“Congratulations to the parents and families in Prince William County. Their victory is our victory; their fight is our fight. Concerned Parents and Educators of Fairfax County will continue to work to engage parents and inform the public about this situation. The Public Trust has been broken, both in Fairfax and Prince William Counties. School boards across the Commonwealth and across the country should expect much more scrutiny from parents because of the reckless and ill-considered actions here in Fairfax,” she concluded.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Concerned Parents and Educators of Fairfax County at 202-930-5347.

CPEFC Statement on TX ruling on transgender use of public school bathrooms and locker rooms

For Immediate Release

August 22, 2016

Fairfax, VA — Concerned Parents and Educators of Fairfax County released a statement on the decision of a Texas U.S. District Court to block President Obama’s guidance directive on the use of public school bathrooms and locker rooms by transgender students.

“Many parents in Fairfax County and all over the country are relieved that their children can return to school without worrying about personal safety and invasions of privacy in locker rooms and gender separate classes. Our daughters can return to PE class without worrying they may be forced to dress or undress in front of a biological male. Our sons can travel with school teams or arts groups without worrying they might be assigned to share a room with a biological female,” Kilgannon explained.

“This injunction gives us a valuable opportunity to have a conversation in Fairfax County and all over the country about what is best for ALL families and students. Fairfax County School Board’s Policy 1450 (and additional regulations) were handed down without reasonable time for consideration or debate by parents or the taxpaying public. If we are really seeking the best outcome for all children, then a reasoned and deliberate process must be undertaken to determine exactly what IS best for children in Fairfax County Public Schools, especially those experiencing gender dysphoria,” she continued.

“In addition, there has been very little discussion about what these gender identity regulations mean for teachers, especially teachers of faith. Can we compel a practicing Catholic public school teacher to use a pronoun that doesn’t fit the biology of the human person? This is a question than can now be fully explored and answered on the state and local level, as is proper in our American educational system.

“The rights of ALL students and teachers must be respected, but never at the expense of the rights of anyone else,” Kilgannon concluded.

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For more information please contact, Meg Kilgannon at 202-930-5347 or executivedirector@concernedparentsandeducators.org

CPEFC Media Release in Response to SCOTUS Stay in G. G. v. Gloucester County School Board

For Immediate Release

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

 

CONCERNED PARENTS AND EDUCATORS OF FAIRFAX COUNTY

STATEMENT OF MEG KILGANNON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

In response to the Supreme Court stay issued today in Gloucester County School Board v. G.G., Concerned Parents and Educators of Fairfax County (CPEFC) released the following statement.

“The Supreme Court’s decision protecting Gloucester County from the Obama Administration’s overreach is a positive development for all families and children. A reasoned conversation about this difficult topic is much needed. The Administration used heavy handed tactics of the radical left to avoid conversation and debate. The facts are not on their side. People need to discuss the consequences and science of turning boys into girls and girls into boys. There are safety factors for all children involved, and privacy issues for all concerned. Only then can we craft policy that protects ALL children and respects ALL families,” said Meg Kilgannon, Executive Director of CPEFC.

“Our own Fairfax County School Board was quick to jump on the bandwagon, passing Regulation 1450 without debate and over significant parental objection. It took them 10 years to change the school start times, but this feat of social engineering was accomplished in just a few weeks, by school board fiat. Now our out of touch, out of control Fairfax County School Board will hear diverse opinions on this topic, not just a select few promoted behind the scenes by school board members with an axe to grind,” she added.

“We look forward to engaging all sectors of the diverse tax paying public in Fairfax County in a conversation about this sensitive and difficult issue. We hope the elected members of the Fairfax County School Board will be open to hearing ALL views in the future.”

 

Contact: Meg Kilgannon at 202-930-5347 or executivedirector@concernedparentsandeducators.org.

 

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