California Family Council has joined with a group of parental rights advocates, in conjunction with Assemblyman Bill Essayli, to support a new parent notification policy being voted on tonight by Chino Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) to make sure schools aren’t keeping secrets from parents about their children. The group, calling themselves the Coalition for Parental Rights, has also launched a website to encourage other school districts around the state to introduce similar policies.
The Parental Notification Policy being voted on requires schools to notify parents if:
- Their children have had any significant physical injury while at school;
- A school employee suspects or has knowledge of a student’s suicidal intentions;
- There is any incident or complaint of a verbal or physical altercation involving their child, including incidents of bullying by or against a student.
- A student is requesting to be identified or treated, as a gender other than the student’s biological sex.
“This policy is meant to foster trust between district employees, and our students’ parents and guardians,” CVUSD President Sonja Shaw said. “I stand for the authority of parents to guide the upbringing of their children and their involvement in decisions related to their education, health, safety, and wellbeing.”
“Schools should never keep secrets from parents, nor put teachers in a position where they have to lie to them,” she said.
“It is slanderous to accuse parents of being a dangerous threat to their child just because they disagree with their child’s chosen gender identity,” Shaw said. “Schools have no right to keep secrets from loving parents just because they believe biology determines a child’s sex. If teachers really believe a student is not safe at home, they have an obligation, as mandated reporters, to notify the authorities. This notification policy does not change that requirement.”
Assemblyman Essayli introduced a similar parent notification proposal earlier this year to require schools to notify parents when a child has been socially transitioned at school to a new gender. Encouraged by the California Department of Education, schools throughout California have secretly changed transgender-identified students’ names and pronouns, but keeping this information from parents. Several parents have filed lawsuits against schools who secretly transitioned their children. A teacher has also filed a lawsuit against her school after she lost her job for refusing to deceive parents about the gender identity of their children. Two other teachers from Rincon Middle School in Escondido filed a lawsuit over school district policies that forced them to hide from parents the gender transition of their transgender-identified students.
“My bill, AB 1314, was a commonsense proposal that would have required parental notification when schools attempt to transition the gender of a student,” said Assemblyman Bill Essayli. “It was stopped by the supermajority Democrat Party in Sacramento despite strong support from parents. While they certainly have the votes to control the agenda in Sacramento, they do not have the votes to stop us in our communities.”
“Today we reclaim the power of the people and put this issue in the hands of every concerned parent across the state. I'm joining with a coalition of parents’ rights advocates to promote parent notification policies, like the one proposed at CVUSD, that any parent can bring to their local school board for implementation. I’m confident that parental rights will prevail over partisan politics in Sacramento,” Essayli said.
A recently released Rassumssen poll shows California voters strongly support a parent notification policy like the one described above. According to a Rassmussen report released today, “Eighty-four percent (84%) of California voters would support a local law that required parents to be notified of any major change in a child’s physical, mental, or emotional health or academic performance, including 66% who would Strongly Support such a law. … If such a law included notifying parents of a child identifying, requesting to identify, or being treated as a gender that doesn’t align with their biological sex, 62% of California voters would be more likely to support it.
Several civil rights legal organizations have written letters in support of this new notification policy, and explain why California school districts are violating parental rights protected by the U.S. Constitution.
“A minor’s right to privacy does not supersede the right of parents to direct the care and upbringing of their child. Minor students are not ‘little adults’ nor do they inherently possess any absolute rights to autonomy or privacy, particularly vis-à-vis their parents,” wrote Constitutional Attorney Dean Broyles, President of the National Center for Law and Policy.
“In fact, the ‘laws concept of the family rests on the presumption that parents possess what a child lacks in maturity, experience, and capacity for judgment required for making life’s difficult decisions.’ Parham, 442 U.S. at 602.” Read Broyles’ legal memo.
“Due process requirements along with Education Code § 221.5 speak against the notion that a public school district can, much less is required to, conceal from parents their child’s attempts at gender transition,” wrote Kevin Snider, Chief Counsel at the Pacific Justice Institute. “The California Department of Education’s protestations aside, one looks in vain for a provision in Section 221.5 that authorizes school employees to engage in conduct calculated to deceive a parent.” Read Snider’s legal memo.
“School districts do not violate any state or federal law by disclosing information to parents regarding their child’s gender identity,” wrote Robert Tyler, President and General Counsel for Advocates for Faith and Freedom. “The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) already affirms parents’ right to review their child’s student records. Under FERPA, school officials can disclose information from a student’s records to parents of the student “in connection with an emergency if knowledge of the information is necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or other individuals.” 34 C.F.R. § 99.36(a). Information related to a child’s request to go by a different name or to be treated as a different gender is needed by parents so that parents can ensure their child’s physical, mental, and emotional needs are being fully met at home and school. Read Tyler’s legal memo.
The Coalition for Parental Rights includes the following organizations:
- Real Impact
- California Family Council
- Capitol Resource Institute
- Our Duty
- Partners for Ethical Care
- California Policy Center
- Pacific Justice Institute
- National Center for Law and Policy
- Mom Army Advocates for Faith & Freedom
- For Kids & Country
- Mom’s For Liberty
- Alliance to Protect Children
- PERK: Protection of the Educational Rights of Kids
- The Salt & Light Council
- A Time to Stand
- TVNEXT
- Educate Advocate
