Parents in a Colorado school district are raising the alarm over the local teachers union encouraging existing members to quietly survey their students on gender identity.
Without the knowledge of school administrators, the Jefferson County Education Association told teachers in an email obtained by CBS Colorado to conduct the surveys on paper and pencil rather than on computers so they can’t be easily tracked.
“Any digital records are more permanent and may be requested under federal law,” the email read.
At the beginning of the academic year, the county’s school district sent an email to its employees, saying mandatory surveys that ask minors about private information are prohibited under state and federal law. Voluntary surveys are also illegal unless parents can opt out on behalf of their children, the school district noted.
However, teachers, at the behest of their union, chose to work around that and actively hide evidence of the surveys from district officials and parents. In the union email, teachers were told to “make your notations about students and not hold on to the documents.”
Denice Crawford, a mother of three children in the school district, said she felt “deceived” when her son brought the questionnaire home. She added the unionized teachers were “breaking the law” and that there should be “accountability and correction” for their actions.
Other parents want to know why they broke the law and intentionally destroyed the evidence.
School board member Susan Miller spoke to the situation: “The leadership actually provided an avenue to get around the law and basically saying it was OK. I want parents to know the district takes this very seriously.”
Miller demanded a retraction from the union. No retraction has been made as of Friday.
JCEA president Brooke Williams issued a statement in response, dodging the laid accusation of whether she told teachers to use paper in order to more easily destroy evidence.
“By allowing students an optional avenue to share their preferred pronouns while maintaining student privacy, we can better ensure that students feel safe, respected, and validated,” Williams said. “We encourage and support educators to follow Jeffco’s district policy which states: School staff shall not disclose information that may reveal a student’s transgender status to others, including parents and other school staff, unless legally required to do so or unless the student has authorized such disclosure.
“Transgender and gender nonconforming students have the right to discuss and express their gender identity and expression openly and to decide when, with whom, and how much to share private information,” she added.
The union claimed the district gave unclear directions about preferred pronouns but a district-approved slide showed otherwise. “Please no preferred pronoun/gender identity questionnaire. Do not promise to keep information from parents,” it read.
JCEA did not respond to a request for comment from National Review.