California school district under scrutiny for notifying parents of gender change

(The Center Square) - In response to a Chino Valley school district's adoption of a policy requiring parental notification for a child's gender identity changes or talk of suicide, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a civil rights investigation into the district.

Assemblymember Bill Essayli (R-Woodcrest) demanded Bonta provide a legal basis for his civil rights investigation and claimed Bonta's investigation is designed to "chill the political activities of local school boards who disagree with the narrative of the ruling political party in Sacramento."

When the measure was first passed by Chino Valley Unified in July, Bonta issued a firm letter rebuking the policy, writing “Disclosing that a student is transgender without the student’s permission may violate California’s anti-discrimination law by increasing the student’s vulnerability to harassment and may violate the student’s right to privacy.”

In his published demand letter to Bonta, Essayli asked to know on what grounds the attorney general was opening his civil rights investigation, and claimed the California Department of Education’s suggestion that students possess a “legally cognizable privacy interest from their parents” is not backed by “any statutory or court authority supporting its position.”

Essayli introduced Assembly Bill 1314 which would have required that schools notify parents or guardians if any teacher, counselor, or employee of the school becomes aware that a pupil is identifying as a gender that does not align with the sex on official records or at birth, or is using sex-segregated school programs, activities, sports and facilities that do not align with said records. AB 1314 did not advance in the assembly.

A July court ruling on a case filed by Aurora Regino, a mother whose 11-year-old child transitioned at school without her knowledge, against a Chico school district provides some precedent. Even though Regino’s daughter allegedly wanted school counselors to inform her mother of her new identity, they could not under the school district’s so-called “parental secrecy policy,” that allows the school to withhold this information from parents. Regino’s daughter, who had initially sought help from the school’s mental health counselor after her father died and Regino was battling cancer, has since detransitioned and identifies as a female.

In the judge’s ruling dismissing the lawsuit, he wrote the school district’s maintaining of privacy was justified “in creating a zone of protection for transgender students and those questioning their gender identity from adverse hostile reactions, including, but not limited to, domestic abuse and bullying.”

While Regino is seeking review of her case at the Ninth Circuit, school districts such as Chino Valley have moved ahead with policies modeled on Essayli’s AB 1314. Despite the investigation launched by Bonta, nearby Murrieta Valley Unified School District is considering a similar notification policy of its own, with discussion of the proposed policy set for August 10.