Virginia's Loudoun County School Board silences public comment after raucous meeting, 2 men arrested

Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.The embattled school board of Virginia’s Loudoun County cut off public comments during a fiery meeting Tuesday as residents traded barbs over new transgender policy proposals.The meeting followed weeks of protests from district parents who oppose some of the measures, which they have criticized as potential left-wing indoctrination and a violation of parental rights.The policies affect transgender student rights, privacy and restroom accommodations and would require Loudoun County Public Schools employees to use students’ preferred names or pronouns. An official school board vote on the proposal is not expected until at least Aug. 10.But it has become a hot-button issue in the district, where 259 residents signed up to speak during the public comment session Tuesday and people lined up at the doors early to get seats in the packed auditorium.VIRGINIA COUNTY'S LATEST BLOW-UP IS PARENTAL RIGHTS AFTER CHRISTIAN STUDENT PLACED IN TINY ROOMThe first half-dozen speakers were in support of policy proposal 8040, but fireworks erupted when the seventh, who identified herself as the mother of a transgender Loudoun student, was booed after saying "hate" was "dripping from the followers of Jesus in this room" – a swipe at Christian parents in the district who have argued that transgender discussions should be held at home and not in public school.The board called a 5-minute recess to let things cool off. The subject was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest."Parents with the group Fight For Schools, which is working to recall a number of school board members, rallied against the proposal Monday night and again before and during the meeting Tuesday.Ian Prior, a spokesman for the group and father of two Loudoun students who is also a former Justice Department official, said during the Monday rally that the Loudoun County School Board is refusing to give parents a seat at the table when it comes to how their kids are educated on controversial topics, including transgender issues and critical race theory."And that is the ultimate mission here is, it's something that starts here and spreads across the country, where parents get a seat at the table," he said. "Whether it's an association or organization, something where they have some kind of power to shape the future of education in their own towns."CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The board meeting comes days after the district confined a Christian student to a small room during schoolwide periods of transgender-themed lessons that his family had objected to based on their faith – and after a court ordered the district to reinstate a suspended phys ed teacher who spoke out against the proposed new transgender policy at a board meeting last month.259 people signed up for public comments.