Transgender student denied access to shelter during mass shooting drill at Virginia school

The student was left outside by school administrators because they couldn’t decide if she should be housed with boys or girls.

In a Virginia middle school, during a mass shooter drill, a transgender student was kept apart from her classmates while administrators discussed where to place her. Students at Stafford County Middle School were instructed to seek cover in the closest locker room or bathroom during a “lockdown” drill, which was intended to teach them what to do in the event of an attack.

The transgender student, whose name has been kept anonymous, was made to wait in the gym while the other students found cover and teachers “discussed where she should go,” according to a Facebook post from Equality Stafford. Teachers discussed where the student would be safest to hide during a drill meant to simulate what to do in the event of an active shooter. In the end, they advised her to sit in the locker room hallway, away from other students.

“The student was forced to watch the adults charged with her care, debate the safest place (for the other students) to have her shelter,” Equality Stafford wrote. “During this debate, she was instructed to sit in the gym with a teacher until the drill was complete, away from her peers and identified as different. After some additional debate, she was made to sit in the locker room hall way [sic], by the door away from her peers.” Parity Stafford criticized the school’s action, claiming that it was as if they were treating the student as a threat to the other pupils. In response to criticism over the school’s actions, Sherrie Johnson, the spokesperson for Stafford County Middle School, released a statement.

“The new superintendent has requested a review of all protocols and procedures to ensure that all children are treated with dignity and respect,” said Johnson. “We take such matters very seriously and they will be addressed. The welfare of all students is of the utmost importance for SCPS.”

Equality Stafford is urging parents and students to attend the county’s school board meeting on Oct. 9 to “lend your voice to the growing cry.”

“This is unacceptable, this cannot happen to one more child,” they wrote. “Not one more in this county. Not ever again.”