Prince William Reporter

Merianne Jensen, the Chapter Chair of Prince William County Moms for Liberty, recently spoke at a Prince William County School Board meeting on September 27th, expressing her concerns about parental rights and accusing the school board of using political activism while excluding parents from decision-making processes.

Jensen began her speech by stating, "Over the past three years, I have watched our district lower education standards resulting in a sharp decline and now to an all-out attack on the rights of parents to be involved in decisions affecting the very lives of their children while they attend school." She emphasized the importance of parental involvement in their children's education and criticized the school board for preventing parents from having a say in matters that directly impact their children.

As a representative of Moms for Liberty, a non-profit organization dedicated to defending parental rights, Jensen highlighted the group's mission to unify, educate, and empower parents to advocate for their rights at all levels of government. She expressed her disappointment in the school board's actions, accusing them of prioritizing their own goals over the best interests of the students and disregarding the concerns of parents.

Jensen also mentioned "Governor Youngkin's model policies" on public schools that was rejected by the Prince William County School Board, she said. According to Inside Nova, Prince William County (PWCS) joined other Northern Virginia school divisions, such as Fairfax, Alexandria, and Arlington, in refusing to conform to the VDOE's new guidelines on transgender students pronouns, adherence to biological sex for athletics, and bathroom use based on birth sex. PWSC said their decision was based on non-discrimination laws.

Governor Youngkin's new model policies include that school staff must use gender pronouns and names from official records unless parents submit a written request. Additionally, the policies insist on determining athletics participation based on biological sex and mandate students to use bathrooms aligned with their birth sex. “The VDOE updated model policies reaffirm my administration’s continued commitment to ensure that every parent is involved in conversations regarding their child’s education, upbringing and care,” Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a statement.

Jensen expressed her disappointment with the school board's refusal to accept these policies, accusing them of doubling down on political activism instead of adhering to the guidelines. She criticized the board for attempting to socially engineer gender identities without parental knowledge, rather than focusing on educational growth.

Merianne Jensen's passionate speech at the Prince William County School Board meeting shed light on the concerns of parents regarding their rights and involvement in their children's education. As the debate over parental rights and school policies continues, it remains to be seen how these issues will be addressed and resolved.