Rocklin Unified School District’s (RUSD) school board has voted 4-1 to work alongside the Liberty Justice Center in order to battle the California Department of Education's (CDE) attempts to quash the district's parental notification policy. The decision on Wednesday came after the CDE filed a writ of mandate demanding that the district put an end to its policy of notifying parents of their students’ decision to transition from their biological sex.
The Liberty Justice Center has agreed to represent RUSD pro bono.
This is not the first time the CDE has sought to prevent parents from being notified about the gender transitioning of their children. The Liberty Justice Fund is also representing Chino Valley Unified School District in a separate legal dispute over the district's similarly-designed policy.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a temporary restraining order, which prevented enforcement of the policy on August 28, 2023, leading to the Liberty Justice Fund agreeing to represent the district in its legal wrangling with the state. In March, Chino Valley Unified School District changed its policy to avoid specifically mentioning gender transitions in the language surrounding notifications, but still requiring staff to notify parents if students request official changes to records.
Policies like those put in place by the Rocklin and Chino Valley districts are becoming increasingly pertinent, as some parents have discovered covert attempts by school staff to transition their children while concealing their actions.
In October 2022, Dan and Jennifer Mead discovered that the Rockford Public School District was secretly transitioning their daughter with autism by referring to her with male pronouns. The Meads subsequently sued the school district for violating their parental and religious rights with the help of the Alliance Defending Freedom.
In a more severe case, a Virginia woman's daughter ran away after experiencing bullying because of her school's secretive attempts to transition her gender, resulting in her being kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and trafficked by predators before she was rescued by law enforcement.
In a time in which many parents experience hostility from schools as a result of their attempts to uphold their right as parents to nurture their children, the Liberty Justice Fund's efforts on behalf of school districts that actually do value parental rights are becoming increasing critical.