School staff reportedly told to share information on students' gender transition with private company

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EXCLUSIVE - A presentation given to counselors at a Texas school encouraged them to refer students, who wished to transition to one biological sex to another, directly to a private company rather than notifying the student’s parents, according to a letter sent from America First Legal to the school district. 

According to the letter, during a "day of professional learning" at the Clear Creek Independent School District, a presentation was given regarding topics related to gender identity by a staff member from the Montrose Center, which "empowers our community—primarily [LGBTQ] individuals and their families—to live healthier, more fulfilling lives." 

The letter, which was sent on behalf of an America First Legal client, noted that two weeks after the presentation, the school sent an email to counselors to "clarify district expectation as it relates to working with gay, lesbian, and transgender students." The email clarified that the school expects counselors to use state statute and school board policies "to guide their work, rather than the practices and graphics shared by the Montrose Center." 

The Montrose Center has not released the contents of the presentation provided to the school counselors, according to the letter, "claiming that the presentation is proprietary intellectual property." 

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"However, the School District has taken no additional actions to secure the PowerPoint presentation slides and to comply with its responsibilities under the Texas Public Information Act," the letter continued.

Ian Prior, a senior adviser at America First Legal, told Fox News Digital that seeing the communication and contract between the school district and the Montrose Center was important to ensure the release of the presentation given to teachers. 

"I would be pretty shocked if there was anything in there that actually prevented, or where the school district agreed that materials used in teacher trainings could not be provided to parents. Because that, in and of itself, could potentially be a violation of law," he said. 

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Interior of a school classroom with wooden desks and chairs.  (istock)

Prior noted that organizations across the country are making "significant amounts of money off of parents" by doing equity audits, or giving presentations to school staff on issues like critical race theory and gender identity.

"They're coming in, they're finding a problem that quite frankly doesn't exist, and then they ultimately provide these teacher trainings, they provide resources to the school, all to put in place this radical gender ideology that the vast majority of parents don't want being pushed on their children through these teacher trainings and other materials," he said.

Prior noted that school districts or external organizations like the Melrose Center citing copyright and intellectual property when denying requests from parents to see curriculum or teacher trainings has become common across the country. 

"It's really absurd, because when you're talking about copyright protection, we're talking about people taking these materials and then using them for their own commercial gain. This is obviously very different than that, and would fall within fair use," he said. "So, it's up to the school ultimately to get those materials. They're the ones that brought in this contractor to conduct this training, and the school has an obligation to get those materials from the Montrose Center." 

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"Therefore, on behalf of its client Christine Parizo, AFL now demands that the School District take all steps necessary to disclose the training material provided by the Montrose Center," the letter said, additionally requesting all records related to the school’s partnership with the Montrose Center.

"The school district is in receipt of a request for public records from the America First Legal," Clear Creek Independent School District Chief Communications Officer Elaina Polsen told Fox News Digital in a statement. "We will certainly provide documents the school district maintains in accordance with the Texas Public Information Act. The presentation from the Montrose Center was never provided to the school district therefore those records are not in our possession. The Montrose Center claims the slides are proprietary as intellectual property. We have no objection to the release of the presentation however, we do not have it to release."

"On March 29, 2022, Clear Creek ISD sought an opinion from Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General as to whether the Attorney General could deem this information to be public," Polsen continued. "In the request for a ruling, we stated, ‘The District seeks your determination that the slides prepared by the Montrose Center are public information and that a copy of them should be provided by The Montrose Center to the District so that the District may release them to the requestor.’ As of June 2, 2022, the Attorney General has not ruled on this matter."

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"The Montrose Center denies the allegations made by America First Legal regarding the contents of a professional learning presentation given by one our staff to Clear Creek ISD counselors. We do not provide medical care outside of behavioral healthcare, and would never ask school district staff to secretly refer children to us for any kind of transition-related medical services," a spokesperson for the Montrose Center told Fox News Digital. "We offer counseling and therapy to clients for a range of issues, including gender dysphoria, as well as offer a range of youth services including safe, educational spaces, mental health and wellness services, and recreational activities such as movie nights. While there have been strides in some states to restrict gender-affirming care for trans youth, it must be reiterated that gender-affirming care is backed by every major medical institution in the country. Further, gender-affirming medical decisions for trans youth should be carefully made between the youth, their parents/guardians, and their medical providers."