Parents in one California school district will not be informed if their children opt to use alternative pronouns following the latest ruling from a state judge.
San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Michael A. Sachs partially sided with California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who challenged Chino Valley Unified School District’s policy regarding transgender-identifying students. Among other guidelines, the school district required teachers and administrators to inform parents if their students requested to use pronouns that do not correspond with their biological sex, enter bathrooms or play on sports teams that do not match their sex at birth.
Administrators, teachers, or any school staff member had to send written notification to parents within three days of a student’s request.
Sachs found on Oct. 19 that parts of the district’s policy were unconstitutional and blocked the district from enforcing some of the parental notification rules, reports AP News. He left in place, however, the requirement that schools notify parents if a student requests to change their gender identification on official paperwork.
Approximately 27,000 students attend school in the Chino Valley Unified School District.
The policy was previously blocked by San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Thomas S. Garza in September.
Bonta, who filed his lawsuit in August, praised Garza’s decision and stressed the necessity of not revealing a child’s sexual identity to their parents.
“Today’s decision by the San Bernardino Superior Court rightfully upholds the state rights of our LGBTQ+ students and protects kids from harm by immediately halting the board’s forced outing policy,” said the attorney general in response to the September ruling, per KCRA.
Chino Valley Unified School District officials plan to pursue a legal challenge to the decision. Sonja Shaw, the president of the district board, told Fox News that the ruling was not “a victory or a defeat.”
“This is part of the legal process, which I believe wholeheartedly. This battle is not over and has just begun,” Shaw said on Oct. 23. “I honestly believe it’s a gift to bring awareness to what is going on.”
Shaw continued:
I view this as a pause until we get our day before a jury. The question of whether a parent or guardian should be involved in the care and welfare of their children is extremely important to all Californians and parents across the state. People want to settle the question once and for all: who do our children belong to? The government or their parents? The overwhelming majority of people that I have come across regardless of political affiliation, religion, or other position agree that children belong to their parents and parents have a constitutional right in the upbringing of their children’s lives. I have complete faith in our legal team and as I said I look forward to our day before a jury. We are committed to this for the long haul as we believe the state has continued to overstep boundaries.
