Rocklin School Board Approves Parental Notification

This Is Right Down The Road From Where I Live

The Rocklin Unified School District in Rocklin, California made a decision regarding a contentious gender policy, with a 4-1 vote in favor of its approval. This policy mandates that teachers inform parents when a student expresses a desire to identify as a different gender. Nevertheless, there are reservations among certain parents and educators who believe it could potentially infringe upon the rights of students. An extended period of public comments, featuring input from teachers, students, and parents, began around 7 p.m. and lasted for several hours, occasionally leading to heated exchanges.

“If there is not notification, there can’t be dialogue,” said Tiffany Saathof, school board vice president.

Opponents countered, saying it could put students at risk.

“It is up to the student to tell their parents when they feel that it’s safe and necessary for them to know that information about them,” said one opponent to the policy.

Teachers rallied near the district office before the meeting, trying to show support for students being included and not targeted in the district. Some parents also spoke out against the policy ahead of the meeting.

"Families that have LGBTQ members, like my own, we're crying out. We're saying, 'Hey, this is not written in an appropriate healthy way. This is going to get people hurt,'" said Price Johnson, a parent.

Travis Mougeotte, president of the Rocklin Teacher Professional Association, said there were concerns about a board policy targeting any one group of students, noting that it could be a violation of safety, student concerns and the culture they vie for in Rocklin.

Wednesday night's vote took place not long after California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued Chino Valley Unified School District for adopting a policy requiring schools to tell parents when their children change their pronouns or use a bathroom of a gender other than the one listed on their official paperwork.

"Families that have LGBTQ members like my own, we're crying out. We're saying, 'Hey, this is not written in an appropriate healthy way. This is going to get people hurt,'" said Bonta.

He said the policy was illegal, dangerous, puts students at risk and violated their rights.

For Rocklin's policy, the conversations about it started last month. The board formed a subcommittee to revise its own policies when it comes to gender identity and pronouns.

One school district in California has been successfully sued by a parent who the school failed to inform her daughter wanted to go by different pronouns.

In case this is a TL;DR, I can sum it up thusly:

TRAs: If a child comes out as trans to a teacher, it must be kept "top secret" in case the parents are abusive.

Also TRAs: The whole school should be informed of the child's new name and pronouns, and everyone must use them but remember to keep it "top secret".

Thank you, RUSD.