California school board votes to uphold so-called 'parental secrecy policy' for transgender students

The Chico Unified School Board in Chico, California, voted Wednesday evening to uphold its so-called "parental secrecy policy," which says that school staff should not reveal a transgender student's gender identity to their parents without the child's permission. 

The vote comes after the Center for American Liberty filed a lawsuit against the school district on behalf of Aurora Regino, a mother who accused a guidance counselor of helping her 11-year-old biological daughter transition to a male without the family's knowledge. 

Regino spoke ahead of the vote Wednesday evening, saying that she was there to "tell my story so that parents and the public know what is going on in our schools." 

"The day my daughter shared with her guidance counselor that she felt like a boy, the counselor immediately affirmed this new identity," Regino told the school board. 

"From then on, the counselor continued to have one-on-one meetings with my daughter without my knowledge. During one of those one-on-one meetings, my daughter told the counselor that she wanted to tell me about her new identity. The counselor ignored her request and did nothing to support her in letting me know what was going on at school." 

State law in California establishes protections for students based on a number of characteristics, including their gender identity. 

The California Department of Education explains that a "compliance officer may discuss with the student any need to disclose the student's transgender or gender-nonconformity status or gender identity or gender expression to the student’s parents/guardians."

"The district shall offer support services, such as counseling, to students who wish to inform their parents/guardians of their status and desire assistance in doing so," the department said, referencing AB 1266. 

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Several community members spoke out in favor of the policy on Wednesday, arguing that it is necessary for the wellbeing of students who are struggling with their gender identity. 

"To all students listening… my message is this: I care about you. Your teachers care," Suzanne King, a middle school teacher in the Chico school district, said on Wednesday. "I care that you are proud of who you are. I care that you know that you’re not alone. I care that you feel supported. I will not coerce you. I will listen to you. I care that you are free to be the person that you are, without judgment, without outside pressure to be something that you are not." 

Paula Hare, who said she is a transgender Korean War veteran, said she is an advocate for LGBT rights, but thinks the current policy goes too far. 

"Parents bring their children to school to learn, not for a teacher to play doctor," Hare told the school board. "For the teacher to come in between the child and the parent, that’s a bad thing, because then you don’t have the parent-child relationship anymore. What you have is a teacher tearing a family apart."

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Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., introduced a bill last month that would ban parental secrecy policies and obligate schools to notify parents if their child is transitioning. 

"This is a grave situation we’re facing here. And how we’ve gotten to a place where we can interpret state policy as such, in Chico, California, that keeping secrets from parents about their children’s involvement at school, about their children’s decisions that are so grave," Rep. LaMalfa said at the board meeting on Wednesday. "Remember, these are minors who are making lifetime, life-changing decisions."

The school board voted 3-2 against developing a policy that would lead to "increased parental inclusion," instead opting to keep the current nondiscrimination/harassment policy in place. 

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A spokesperson for the district declined to comment on the lawsuit filed by Regino and the Center for American Liberty, but said the district is "committed to strengthening and improving our programs and services with the help of our educational community."

"As a District, we understand, respect, and value the responsibility of educating the youth in our community," the spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "We remain committed to following all Federal, State and local legal requirements for school districts and encourage our community to work with our elected State officials to refine requirements with which there may be concern."

Fox News Digital's Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.