Non-discrimination policies

Good afternoon,

I am writing in response to your FOIA request, emailed on April 11, 2017 and received by the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) the following business day.

1) You requested: Any and all written documents that include, but are not limited to, policies, procedures, training manuals, talking points and slideshows that include the topic of non-discrimination or anti-bullying policies regarding LGBT identified students. This includes, but is not limited to, policies on the use of restroom and locker room facilities. Please limit this request to documents that were generated over the past two years as well as documents, such as policies, that are in effect now.

- Please find attached the Superintendent’s Email from May 2016 which was distributed by VDOE to all division superintendents in Virginia. Additionally, please refer to the below documents:

Superintendent’s Memo #170-16<http://www.doe.virginia.gov/administrators/superintendents_memos/2016/170-16.shtml>
Mental Health in Schools<http://www.doe.virginia.gov/support/prevention/mental-health/index.shtml>

Training provided at the Mental Health in Schools Conference – Working Together: Coordinating School Mental Health Support Conference, August 9-10, 2016, Charlottesville, VA
Understanding and Supporting Gender Diversity in Schools<http://www.doe.virginia.gov/support/prevention/mental-health/professional-learning/2016/session-3-day-one-savage-gender-diveristy.pdf>
School Building Transgender & Gender Diverse Readiness Assessment<http://www.doe.virginia.gov/support/prevention/mental-health/professional-learning/2016/session-3-day-one-savage-transgender-gender-diverse-readiness-assessment.pdf>

2) You requested: Any and all communications or questions requested from education institutions regarding the Department of Justice’ 2016 Joint Guidance on Transgender Students (“Dear Colleague Letter”) or Trump’s 2017 “Dear Colleague Letter”.

- Please refer to the Superintendent’s Email provided above in response to Part 1.

3) You requested: Any and all records, reports or documents sent to districts that regard student sexual health education.

- Please refer to the below documents:
Family Life Education<http://www.doe.virginia.gov/instruction/family_life_education/index.shtml>

Family Life Education Guidelines and Standards of Learning<http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/family_life/familylife_guidelines_standards-2016.pdf>

Health Education Standards of Learning<http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/health/index.shtml>

4) You requested: Finally, I request any and all memos, letters, policies and guidelines sent to schools in the last five years that outline policies regarding transgender or gender non-conforming students. This includes, but is not limited to, the use of restroom and locker room facilities.

- Please find attached a memorandum from the Office of the Attorney General for Virginia which has been distributed to schools in response to questions regarding how to code gender for data collections. Additionally, please refer to the below documents:
Superintendent’s Memo #146-14<http://www.doe.virginia.gov/administrators/superintendents_memos/2014/146-14.shtml>

Bullying Prevention Strategies & Programs<http://www.doe.virginia.gov/support/prevention/bullying/>

Throughout your FOIA request, you ask for “any and all” records and “any and all” documents. The nature of such a broad request infers that you are seeking any communication related to the topics you’ve noted, which would include emails, notes, documents of any kind. Your request for any and all records related to sexual health does not include a limitation on the time period for which you are seeking records. These requests would require an exhaustive search which would incur charges.

Please note that VDOE estimates that the broad nature of this request would necessitate a significant amount of staff time. Our preliminary estimate of charges based on 24 hours of staff time, at a rate of $19.98 per hour, to conduct such searches as you requested, would total $479.52. VDOE has a policy of waiving the first $20, thus, your estimated cost would be $459.52, and payment would be due upon receipt of the records.

Our policy, consistent with § 2.2-3704<http://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/2.2-3704/>(H) of the Virginia FOIA, requires a fifty percent advance deposit for requests likely to exceed $200.00. In order to proceed with your request for records, we will require a deposit of $229.76. Please do not pay the total estimated cost, only the deposit amount requested. You can mail this payment to:

Virginia Department of Education
Attn: Fiscal Services
Project Code 80155- FOIA Requests
PO Box 2120
Richmond, VA 23218

However, please be aware, if you could refine the scope of your request or provide more specificity in your request, less or no charges may be incurred. Please feel free to call me, as I am happy to work with you to help determine what precisely you are seeking.

Please let me know how you wish to proceed.

Thank you,
Elizabeth Morris
_______________
Elizabeth Morris
Senior Policy Analyst
Division of Policy & Communications
Virginia Department of Education
804/225-2117

Good morning,

The information included about incurring charges is reflective of each of your requests that seek “any and all” records or documents. There are over 300 employees at VDOE. Such broad requests would require each individual to search their emails, notes, hard drives, records, files, etc.

The request regarding student sexual health, which is a part of Family Life Education (FLE), is particularly broad as FLE has been in place for decades. Many topics in FLE, as you can see from the FLE SOL I provided to you, address subjects related to sexual health.

If you could identify what you’re seeking with more specificity, we may be able to search for it more precisely.

Please let me know if you have additional questions.

Thank you,
Elizabeth Morris

_______________
Elizabeth Morris
Senior Policy Analyst
Division of Policy & Communications
Virginia Department of Education
804/225-2117

Thank you.

Based upon the revisions to your request, there are no additional responsive records.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you,
Elizabeth Morris

_______________
Elizabeth Morris
Senior Policy Analyst
Division of Policy & Communications
Virginia Department of Education
804/225-2117