California Attorney General Sues School District Over Transgender Notification Policy
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — California’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, filed a lawsuit on Monday against the Chino Valley Unified School District in Southern California over its new policy that requires schools to inform parents if their children change their gender identification or pronouns. This legal action is the latest development in an ongoing battle between several school districts and the state regarding the rights of transgender children and their parents.
Attorney General Bonta argued that policies like the one adopted by Chino Valley Unified School District could potentially harm transgender students by forcibly outing them and putting their well-being at risk. However, the district’s board president, Sonja Shaw, and its supporters maintain that parents have the right to be aware of the decisions their children make within the school setting.
To address this issue, Bonta is seeking a court order to immediately block the policy in Chino Valley. The district’s policy requires schools to notify parents within three days if it becomes known that a student is requesting to be treated as a gender other than the one indicated on official records.
Bonta stated, “For far too many transgender children and gender nonconforming youth, school serves as their only safe haven — a place away from home where they can find validation, safety, privacy. We have to protect that.” He claimed that the policy discriminates against these students and violates the state constitution’s requirement of equal protection for all.
Several neighboring districts have implemented similar policies, and at least one more is considering doing so. These actions have sparked intense debates during local school board meetings, coinciding with the nationwide conversation on transgender rights. In other states, efforts have been made to ban gender-affirming care, exclude transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports, and require schools to disclose transgender and nonbinary students’ identities to their parents.
In California, these proposals are emerging from communities that have elected more conservative school board members since the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to increased clashes with Governor Gavin Newsom and the Democrats who hold political power in the state.
Sonja Shaw, the Chino Valley Unified School District President, commented that the lawsuit did not come as a surprise, as state officials have repeatedly tried “to shut parents out of their children’s lives.” She emphasized that the district would stand firm and protect the children because they are not breaking the law. Shaw stated, “Parents have a constitutional right in the upbringing of their children. Period.”
According to Andi Johnston, a spokesperson for Chino Valley, the district’s policy safeguards transgender students by requiring schools to notify social services or law enforcement if a student believes they are in danger. In such cases, parents would not be notified until the appropriate authorities had investigated the concern.
The controversy surrounding parental notification policies is not the only point of contention between local schools and California officials regarding LGBTQ+ policies. Earlier this year, Newsom threatened to fine the Temecula Valley Unified School District after it rejected an elementary school social studies curriculum that featured books mentioning politician and gay rights advocate Harvey Milk. The district later reversed its decision on the curriculum.
State lawmakers are currently deliberating legislation that aims to ensure school curricula reflect gender, racial, and cultural diversity. The proposed bill would mandate the California Department of Education to release guidelines on managing discussions about race and gender in schools.
Governor Newsom recently announced that state lawmakers were working on legislation to address policies surrounding parental notification when a child changes their gender identity. However, Assemblymember Chris Ward, vice chair of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, stated that they would not introduce the legislation this year, instead refining their approach to propose comprehensive and responsible legislation.
The parental notification policies emerged after Republican state lawmaker Bill Essayli introduced a statewide bill on the issue, which never received a hearing in Sacramento. Essayli subsequently began collaborating with local school board members, including Sonja Shaw and the California Family Council, to draft the notification policy that was adopted in Chino Valley. Similar policies have been adopted by the Temecula Valley and Murrieta Valley districts, while the Orange Unified district is currently debating the issue.
Jody Herman, a public policy scholar at the University of California Los Angeles School of Law, warned that mandating school staff to notify parents of their child’s transgender identity is risky, as parents’ responses are not always accepting.
The debate surrounding these policies has also affected teachers. Greg Goodlander, a high school French teacher and the president of the Orange Unified Educators Association, called the proposal a distraction and argued that there is no evidence to suggest it would benefit student learning. Goodlander also expressed concern that the issue had not been negotiated with the teachers’ association as part of their contract.
In the politically diverse Orange Unified district, board members clashed during a recent debate over the policy. Supporters argued that parents should be involved in these matters to advocate for their children and seek counseling when necessary, while opponents claimed that such a move would discriminate against transgender students and intrusively involve the government in family life.
This report was compiled by Sophie Austin, a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.