California school district to vote on forced outing of transgender students to their parents

The proposed policy would require teachers to insert themselves into a personal matter, a union representative says. "It's just not what teachers are supposed to be doing."

The Chino Valley Unified School District board is expected to vote on on a parental notification policy Thursday, July 20, that would require schools to notify parents if their child identifies as transgender.

The policy introduced on June 15 would require schools to notify parents in writing within three days if their child identifies as transgender, is involved in any violence or talks about suicide. Under the policy, schools would notify parents if their child seeks to change their name or pronouns or asks for access to gender-based sports, bathrooms or changing rooms that do not match their assigned gender at birth.

The policy under consideration Thursday evening echoes a Riverside County lawmaker’s bill that stalled in the state Assembly this spring.

Assembly Bill 1314, sponsored by GOP Assemblymember Bill Essayli, would have required schools across the state to notify parents when a child identifies as transgender. The CVUSD school board voted 4-1 to adopt a resolution supporting the legislation, but the bill never got a hearing in the Assembly and died in April.

The same day the district introduced its own notification policy, the school board passed a policy banning all flags except the U.S. flag and the California state flag from classrooms. Critics of both policies voiced concerns that such action would have negative consequences for LGBTQ students.

“And it’s just a fact that educating kids works best when you have engaged parents and caring teachers working together to create a safe space for all kids,” said Kristi Hirst, founder of Our Schools USA and a CVUSD parent in an interview Wednesday, July 19. “And this policy does the opposite of that. This policy is rooted in distrust of schools and teachers.”

Brenda Walker, president of Associated Chino Teachers, said the board still has not approached the union with details about how the policy will be enacted or the consequences for teachers who choose to disregard it. The union, which represents more than 1,300 teachers, counselors, speech and language pathologists, psychologists and nurses in the district, stands against the policy and what it could mean for students.

School board President Sonja Shaw defended the policy in a July 19 news release issued by Coalition for Parental Rights. In the news release Shaw said schools should not keep secrets from parents and that it is “slanderous” to accuse parents of being a danger to their children.

“This policy is meant to foster trust between district employees, and our students’ parents and guardians,” Shaw said in the news release. “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 well-being.”

The board meeting is set for 6 p.m. Thursday at Don Lugo High School, 3400 Pipeline Ave. in Chino.