Murrieta Valley board defies California, will keep policy to tell parents about LGBTQ+ transitioning

People at a Murrieta Valley school board meeting in August cheer after the board voted 3 to 2 to approve a parent-notification policy on student gender identification. The Murrieta Valley Board of Education has defied a state order — and countermanded its own staff — by reaffirming a policy that requires parents to be notified when students change their gender identity on campus, putting the district at the center of a raging culture-war battle over how best to protect the interests of both students and parents. The board voted 3 to 2 on Thursday night to keep its parent-notification policy, which requires administrators, teachers and counselors to notify parents or guardians in writing within three days after any district employee has learned that a student is requesting to be “identified or treated as a gender other than the student’s biological sex or gender listed on the student’s birth certificate or any other official records.” An investigation by the California Department of Education concluded that the notification rules were discriminatory and therefore illegal. In this instance, on April 10, the state Department of Education ordered the Murrieta district, within five days, to provide written notice to all employees and students that the notification policy is “inconsistent” with state education code and will “not be implemented.” Two days later, in an effort to follow those instructions, the district administration sent out an unsigned notice, from the “Murrieta Valley USD Administrative Team,” that appears to comply with the state directive. Chino Valley school board President Sonja Shaw said parents in Murrieta and Chino Valley have expressed frustration over the state’s position and urged her to press on.