Chino Valley Unified school board delays discussion on gender reporting policy and bans pride flags
The Chino Valley Unified school board decided to delay its discussion of a proposed parent gender reporting policy at its Thursday night meeting but did vote to ban pride flags.
The banning of pride flags on school property comes under the umbrella of a district revision of ceremonies and observances, which allows the display only of the U.S. flag, state, county, and military flags.
Back In April, parents packed the Chino Valley Unified School District office to sound off on the board's support of a controversial gender reporting bill.
"It was heated but there were definitely more people who were in favor of parents' rights than those opposed," said Amy Féria, a mother of three. "I am sickened to think of any teacher, any school creating an agenda to keep us out of the loop."
However, after his controversial bill was squashed in the California State Legislature Republican Assemblyman Bill Essayli partnered with Chino Valley school board president Sonja Shaw with the hopes of enacting a similar notification policy.
"We're now taking this effort and this initiative down to each school district. Chino is the first that's going to hopefully implement this policy," said Essayli.
The mandate would force school officials to notify parents if a student asks to be identified as a gender other than what was assigned to them at birth. Supporters of the bill and subsequent school policy claimed it was a "parents' rights" issue.
"If I'm going to support something in Sacramento and I can do it here at our district level — to bring parents back into the picture and put protection for our children — it just makes sense to not look back," said Shaw.
The proposed policy has sparked concerns for the Associated Chino Teachers Union, which said it is illegal to reveal information without a student's consent.
"It's important to us that students remain safe," said Brenda Walker, president of ACT.
Defending his proposal, Essayli said schools should not keep secrets.
"I do not believe that any school or teacher has the right to withhold information from parents," said Essayli. "That's in any context, whether they're injured on the playground or beat up in a fight, or if they're really struggling with really deep personal issues. Parents are the caretakers and got to know what's happening with their kids."
A date was not set for the discussion of the gender identification notification policy.
