California school official slammed for pushing secret transgender policy
Chino Valley Unified School Board President Sonja Shaw and California mother Jennifer Kennedy, Esq., joined 'Fox & Friends First' to discuss how parents are pushing back against the policy and the broader fight for parental rights in the classroom.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Friday announced a civil rights investigation into a school district over their policy requiring staff to "out" transgender students.
The Chino Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) in July adopted a policy that forces schools to "out" students to their parents about their gender identity.
According to a press release from Bonta's office, the attorney general stated there is a "substantial interest in protecting the legal rights, physical safety, and mental health of children in California schools, and in protecting them from trauma, harassment, bullying, and exposure to violence and threats of violence."
California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Friday launched a civil rights investigation against the Chino Valley Unified School District over their policy requiring staff to "out" transgender students. ((AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File))
"Chino Valley Unified’s forced outing policy threatens the safety and well-being of LGBTQ+ students vulnerable to harassment and potential abuse from peers and family members unaccepting of their gender identity. Today’s announcement stresses our commitment to challenging school policies that target and seek to discriminate against California’s most vulnerable communities. California will not stand for violations of our students’ civil rights," the press release stated.
Bonta’s statement came after he sent a letter on July 10th, threatening to "take action as appropriate to vigorously protect students’ civil rights."
Bonta’s letter warned Superintendent Norman Enfield and the board of education about the "potential infringements on students' civil and privacy rights and educational opportunities."
School board president Sonja Shaw lauded the vote approving a policy to out transgender students as an important move to protect the rights of parents. (Will Lester/MediaNews Group/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin via Getty Images)
CVUSD’s policy requires the "principal/designee, certified staff, and school counselors" to, within three days of becoming aware of the preference, notify parents of a student's decision to identify with a gender that does not directly correspond with their biological sex, use different pronouns or a different name or use locker rooms and/or restrooms that do not correspond with their biological gender.
The measure passed in a 4-1 vote, after a heated four-hour board meeting with nearly 90 speakers that saw California State Superintendent Tony Thurmond kicked out for refusing to sit down after his time expired.
Sonja Shaw kicks out California State Superintendent Tony Thurmond. (Fox News Digital)
School board president Sonja Shaw previously lauded the vote as an important move to protect the rights of parents.
She sent Fox News Digital a statement calling Bonta's move "another intimidation factor" and claiming it "only shows their focus is to break up families."
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"They are making dangerous assumptions when they say parents are dangerous to their children. They are overstepping their boundaries. Parents don’t send their kids to school to develop secret relationships with adults. This is a ploy to try to scare all the other boards across California from adopting the policy. I don’t think this will work," Shaw said.
Shaw continued, "We have united all over California and people from all over the nation are linking up to protect our kids and ensure parental rights. They did us a favor and just revealed more of their agenda and exposed their intentions. It is absolutely dangerous for Bonta and Thurmond to assume parents are dangerous to their children. Their actions continue to create distrust between parents and the schools. I will continue to fight for parental rights. I won’t back down, and I will stand in the gap to protect our kids from big government bullies."
Fox News' Taylor Penley contributed to this report.
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