The Orange Unified School District is meeting Thursday to decide if they will adopt a controversial parent notification policy involving transgender students.
The district’s board is set to meet at 7 p.m. to consider a policy requiring school officials to inform parents if their child is requesting to be identified or treated as a different sex or gender, the Orange County Register reported.
The new policy would be similar to one the Chino Valley Unified School District passed in July.
Chino Valley was the first school district in California to pass a transgender policy, which has become a hot-button topic in districts ever since.
OUSD President Rick Ledesma believes parents have a right to know about their children’s lives and that a notification policy would create a “safer environment for all students and families,” the Register reported.
Board member and trustee Kris Ericson has concerns about the policy and was quoted in the article saying it could cause “our teachers to be mandated informants, rather than mandated reporters.”
Meanwhile, a San Bernardino County Superior Court judge has temporarily halted Chino Valley’s plans to implement its parent notification policy.
“We’ve secured a temporary restraining order against Chino Valley Unified School District’s illegal and dangerous forced outing policy,” Bonta announced on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Chino Valley’s Board President Sonja Shaw said she was undeterred by the ruling.
“I’m really disappointed that this was the judgment, but I’m also hopeful and we’re gonna stand our ground. We know what we’re doing is legal and right. Parents have a constitutional right and we are going to do all we can to protect that,” Shaw said.