Two California students were suspended for five days and required to attend a “restorative justice” training as a consequence for “misgendering” a transgender teacher. This is according to an email obtained by Glendale Unified School District Parents’ Voices, an organization that aims to “support children’s educational goals and development” in their district just north of Los Angeles.
The email, written by former Herbert High School principal Jennifer Earl, stated that the students entered a classroom, used the wrong name for the transgender teacher, and then fled after being corrected. In the email, the principal mentioned that the students admitted to being “curious about a transgender person” during their interviews.
“I suspended two students for five days each today and will be conducting RJ with students and teacher for the following,” Earl wrote.
“I asked [the] teacher how he wanted to handle it, if he wanted me to just teach them about misgendering or would he like me to speak about being trans,” Earl continued. “He asked me to educate on transgender. It was well received from students and parents. [Restorative justice] will happen after suspension.”
GUSD uses “restorative practices” within the classroom by “reducing, preventing and improving harmful behavior” and “resolving conflict, holding individuals and groups accountable,” according to the district website. In 2018, the district created a “Restorative Practices Advisory Task Force” to provide “input for implementing Restorative Practices throughout the district.”
Jonathan Zachreson, founder of Students First California, discussed the incident on Twitter, noting that California law prohibits schools from disciplining students for speech that is constitutionally protected. He cites Article 3 of the Education Code, which reads, “A school district operating one or more high schools, a charter school, or a private secondary school shall not make or enforce a rule subjecting a high school pupil to disciplinary sanctions solely on the basis of conduct that is speech or other communication that, when engaged in outside of the campus, is protected from governmental restriction by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or Section 2 of Article I of the California Constitution.”
Not only is Glendale Unified School District demanding that students abide by radical gender ideology, but the district is also breaking state and federal law.
In addition to this case, GUSD has been at the center of a lot of controversy over the last few years for the district’s progressive ideology.
During a Glendale Unified School District (GUSD) meeting on June 6, multiple fights erupted, leading to the arrest of at least three individuals. The meeting centered around discussions about the incorporation of LGBT-focused curriculum for students.
Parents from various communities within the district, including the Armenian American and Hispanic communities, organized a protest in response to inadequate transparency and concerns about certain LGBT curricula and policies. These parents have been actively demonstrating and voicing their objections at school board meetings for several months. They are advocating for greater transparency and are expressing concerns about the age-appropriateness of specific LGBT curricula and policies.
In a recent episode of “Jesse Watters Primetime,” Ani Torosyan, spokesperson of Glendale Unified School District Parents’ Voices, said, “We have mounds and mounds of evidence that this district is pushing age inappropriate curriculum from kindergarten, sometimes TK, and on. For example, a third grade teacher was suspended finally last year once we revealed how parents were concerned she showed age inappropriate videos about LGBTQ Pride Month to eight-year-olds and about sexuality to eight-year-olds. We have Assistant Superintendent Kelly Keane who goes on genderspectrum.org-sponsored webinars, which is total conflict of interest, saying that male coaches at GUSD should not be offended or feel awkward that girls are coming into the boys locker room.”
It’s not yet clear how this student case regarding “misgendering” will end, but the good news is that GUSD parents are paying attention and speaking out.
