A Southern California school district approved a policy requiring schools to notify parents if their child identifies as transgender, wants to change their pronouns or name, or wants to use sex-segregated facilities that do not align with the child’s sex.
Chino Valley Unified School District’s board passed the measure 4-1, in a contentious meeting on Thursday. California state superintendent of public instruction Tony Thurmond was kicked out of the meeting after he exceeded his one-minute comment period while arguing that the policy would violate students’ privacy rights.
California attorney general Rob Bonta, who recently said he is “seriously exploring” a 2026 gubernatorial run, echoed that criticism in a statement sent to the district.
“The protection of every student’s privacy and safety is of utmost importance, and that includes protecting their right to choose when, how, and with whom they share their gender identity. That is a personal decision for them, and them alone,” Bonta said. “By allowing for the disclosure of a student’s gender identity without their consent, Chino Valley Unified School District’s suggested Parental Notification policy would strip them of their freedom, violate their autonomy, and potentially put them in a harmful situation.”
Republican state assemblyman Bill Essayli introduced the policy in March, after a teacher in a neighboring district was fired for telling parents about their child’s gender identity without first asking the student. Tapia claimed the district told her to lie to parents, and conceal a student’s gender change.
“We are talking about minors. Their brain is not fully developed. The decision-making portal in that brain is not fully developed, and they need their parents at this time for everything,” the teacher, Jessica Tapia, said at the time. “Everything they’re going through, mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, you name it.”
California law requires schools to ask students before disclosing to parents their gender identity. Essayli said at the meeting that the district doesn’t have the power to “change things at the Sacramento level, but we can change it at the local level.” The assemblyman said that the bill will promote parental involvement, not stop transgender kids from choosing their preferred pronouns.
“Concealing information from parents is not only wrong, it’s dangerous and harmful to the emotional and physical safety of trans minors,” he said.
Eighty-three speakers gathered at Thursday’s meeting, including many parents who spoke in support of the policy. Board member James Na said said on Thursday that “we must make sure our parents are in charge, not the state.”
School districts across the country — most recently, in North Carolina, Indiana, and Utah — are proposing similar policies, as concerns about parental rights in education gain traction. England is set to publish a similar measure this week, which will require teachers to tell parents if children question their gender. Parents then must give consent for their children to use pronouns of the opposite sex.