Good News! School District Found Responsible For Facilitating Child's Social Transition Without Parental Knowledge

Parents Will Not Stand By As Schools Trample On Their Right to Raise Their Children.

Jessica Konen

Adolescence can be confusing. However, the confusion becomes even more pronounced when educational institutions exclude parents from pivotal choices affecting their children's lives—such as the decision to undergo a social transition to a different gender.

This was the situation faced by Jessica Konen. Her daughter, Alicia, was invited to join an "Equality Club," where she received instruction about bisexuality, transgender identities, and other LGBT concepts while still in sixth grade. Shortly after becoming a club member, the school started encouraging Alicia's identification as a boy. They provided her with materials on concealing her presumed new gender identity from her mother and furnished her with a "Gender Support Plan." This plan mandated that school staff address her by a male name and pronouns and granted her access to the unisex teachers' restroom instead of the girls' restroom — all of which occurred without informing Jessica about the school's actions.

Following several months, the school ultimately informed Jessica that it had conducted a social transition for Alicia without her knowledge and insisted that Jessica use male name and pronouns while referring to her daughter.

Today I’m delighted to declare a resolution in the case of Konen v. Spreckels Union School District, culminating in a payment of $100,000 by the school district to Jessica Konen and her daughter, Alicia.

Jessica Konen initiated this legal action to safeguard her parental prerogative in nurturing Alicia. Jessica sought fairness from a school that undertook Alicia's social transition to a new "gender identity" without even informing Jessica of the proceedings.

Jessica and Alicia are not isolated in their experience. In reality, the California Department of Education actively promotes the practice of withholding information from parents, akin to what the Spreckels Union School District did in Jessica's case. Educational institutions throughout the nation are adopting similar approaches.

The events that unfolded with Jessica and Alicia are a widespread occurrence throughout the nation. This is precisely why their triumph holds immense significance. Their boldness in stepping forward and sharing their narrative is an ongoing source of inspiration, motivating additional parents to initiate analogous legal actions in order to resist schools' encroachment upon parental rights.

These infringements upon parental rights must be halted. The settlement reached by Jessica and Alicia stands as a pivotal restraint on a single school district and serves as a cautionary signal to others: parents are resolved in not passively accepting schools' infringement on their prerogative to nurture their children.

The Supreme Court has continuously maintained that parents possess the authority to guide the upbringing and education of their children. This encompasses the privilege to participate in decisions regarding whether the school should undertake a social transition to a different gender for their children. This authority is stripped away from parents when schools assume they are more knowledgeable than parents about raising children and deliberately withhold information from mothers and fathers.