California’s Attorney General filed a motion today to permanently stop the Chino Valley Unified School district from enforcing a policy that requires schools to tell parents if their child is transgender. Bonta said in a press release that the policy was detrimental to the physical and emotional safety, well-being, and privacy of transgender and gender-nonconforming students.
The Chino Valley school board passed the original policy last July. Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against the district for discrimination and violating the constitutional rights of students. In October, Bonta obtained a preliminary injunction that paused enforcement of the first two parts of the policy.
The board voted to rescind that policy in March and replace it with an updated version. The new policy does not mention gender, but requires staff to notify parents if their child changes any official or unofficial school records. Critics argue the intent behind the updated policy is the same and was an attempt to survive legal scrutiny.
“It is a harmful policy that is making a school an unsafe place for these kids,” said Kristi Hirst with Our Schools USA, a nonprofit based in Chino that opposes transgender notification in schools.
Supporters of transgender notification policies argue that parents have a right to know how their child identifies at school.
Jacob Huebert is the president of the Liberty Justice Center, the law firm representing the school board in Bonta’s lawsuit. He said he believes both versions of the policy are constitutional.
“The Board supports the fundamental rights of parents and guardians to direct the care and upbringing of their children, including the right to be informed of and involved in all aspects of their child’s education to promote the best outcomes,” said Heubert in a statement.
Meanwhile, a Riverside County Superior Court judge ruled earlier this year that the Temecula Valley school district can continue to enforce a similar transgender notification policy.
Correction 04/25/24: A previous version of this story incorrectly said Attorney General Rob Bonta obtained a preliminary injunction for the entire notification policy. Bonta only obtained a preliminary injunction for the first two parts of the policy.