Current:Home > ScamsJudge blocks California school district policy to notify parents if their child changes pronouns-LoTradeCoin
Judge blocks California school district policy to notify parents if their child changes pronouns
View Date:2024-12-24 00:27:17
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Parts of a controversial Southern California school district policy that require school staff to tell parents if their child asks to change their gender identification will remain halted after a judge granted a preliminary injunction Thursday to block them until a final decision is made in the case.
The ruling by San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Michael A. Sachs, who called portions of the policy unconstitutional, came after another judge temporarily halted the policy in September. California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who filed a lawsuit against the Chino Valley Unified School District in August, said the policy is harmful to transgender and gender-nonconforming students.
“This case is about a policy that is discriminatory,” Delbert Tran, a deputy attorney general representing the state, said at the hearing.
The Chino Valley school board approved the policy over the summer to require school staff — including principals, counselors and teachers — to notify parents in writing within three days of the school finding out their child asks to be identified as a gender different from what is listed on official records. The policy also requires staff to tell parents if their child begins using bathrooms designated for a different gender.
Sachs denied on Thursday the state’s request to block another part of the policy requiring school staff to notify parents if their child asks for information in their student records to be changed.
Emily Rae, a lawyer representing the school district, said at the hearing that parents have the right to know if their child asks to identify as a different gender so that they can better support the child’s needs.
“Chino Valley implemented this policy because it values the role that parents play in the educational process and understands that giving parents access to important information about their children is necessary,” Rae said.
Several other school districts near Chino Valley, which serves roughly 27,000 students, and in other parts of the state have debated or adopted similar policies. Last month, a federal judge blocked a policy at the Escondido Union School District in Southern California that requires staff to refrain from notifying parents if their child identifies as transgender or gender-nonconforming unless the student gives them permission.
School district policies requiring school staff to notify parents of their child’s gender identification change bubbled up after a bill by Republican Assemblymember Bill Essayli, which would have implemented the policy statewide, failed to receive a hearing in the Legislature this year. Essayli then worked with school board members and the California Family Council to help draft the policy that was voted on at Chino Valley.
The lawsuit is part of an ongoing battle between California officials and some local school districts over the rights of parents and LGBTQ+ students. In July, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said at a meeting on the Chino Valley policy that it could pose a risk to students who live in unsafe homes.
In August, the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus planned to announce a bill to somehow combat the policies, but lawmakers decided to hold off for the year. Assemblymember Chris Ward, a Democrat and vice chair of the caucus, said Monday that the outcome of the lawsuit against Chino Valley “will inform the range of possibilities for what we should or shouldn’t do with regard to legislation.”
This all comes amid debates across the country over transgender rights as other states have sought to impose bans on gender-affirming care, bar trans athletes from girls and women’s sports, and require schools to out trans and nonbinary students to their parents. In Wisconsin, a judge earlier this month blocked a school district’s policy allowing students to change their names and pronouns without permission from parents.
___
Sophie Austin is 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. Follow Austin on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter: @sophieadanna
veryGood! (78273)
Related
- 'I was in total shock': Woman wins $1 million after forgetting lotto ticket in her purse
- Oregon quarterback Bo Nix overcomes adversity at Auburn to become Heisman finalist
- Lawmakers seek action against Elf Bar and other fruity e-cigarettes imported from China
- Harvard president apologizes for remarks on antisemitism as pressure mounts on Penn’s president
- 32 things we learned in NFL Week 10: Who will challenge for NFC throne?
- High-speed rail projects get a $6 billion infusion of federal infrastructure money
- Woman arrested after trying to pour gasoline on Martin Luther King's birth home, police say
- November jobs report shows economy added 199,000 jobs; unemployment at 3.7%
- Guns smuggled from the US are blamed for a surge in killings on more Caribbean islands
- Mexican immigration agents detain 2 Iranians who they say were under observation by the FBI
Ranking
- A Pipeline Runs Through It
- Nicki Minaj's bars, Barbz and beefs; plus, why 2023 was the year of the cowboy
- Man who fired shots outside Temple Israel synagogue in Albany federally charged.
- What's making us happy: A guide to your weekend viewing and gaming
- Is Kyle Richards Finally Ready to File for Divorce From Mauricio Umansky? She Says...
- Every college football conference's biggest surprises and disappointments in 2023
- Hunter Biden indicted on tax crimes by special counsel
- Hong Kong’s new election law thins the candidate pool, giving voters little option in Sunday’s polls
Recommendation
-
It's Red Cup Day at Starbucks: Here's how to get your holiday cup and cash in on deals
-
Top-ranking Democrat won’t seek reelection next year in GOP-dominated Kentucky House
-
Man who fired shots outside Temple Israel synagogue in Albany federally charged.
-
DeSantis, Haley and Ramaswamy will appear in northwest Iowa days after a combative GOP debate
-
Trump hammered Democrats on transgender issues. Now the party is at odds on a response
-
With Putin’s reelection all but assured, Russia’s opposition still vows to undermine his image
-
Sulfuric acid spills on Atlanta highway; 2 taken to hospital after containers overturn
-
What's making us happy: A guide to your weekend viewing and gaming