Parental Rights and Schools

U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez on Monday granted summary judgment in a class-action case brought by two Escondido Union School District teachers and parents, striking down California public school policies that barred K–12 staff from informing parents when students use names or pronouns different from those assigned at birth. Benitez held that parents have a federal constitutional right to be informed when their child expresses "gender incongruence" at school and that teachers have a right to tell them, applying the order statewide and citing the Supreme Court’s recent Mahmoud v. Taylor decision on parental opt-outs from school materials that conflict with their religious beliefs. The ruling targets district-level "gender secrecy" policies influenced by state guidance, comes amid California’s SAFETY Act limiting mandatory parental notification, and was hailed as a landmark victory by the conservative Thomas More Society, which represented the plaintiffs.