Staff Reports
The courtroom in San Bernardino made a clear call this week: Chino Valley Unified School District cannot reinstate the portion of its parental‑notification policy that forced staff to out transgender students to their parents. A Superior Court judge refused the district’s request to lift the injunction that blocks those gender‑targeted disclosure rules, leaving only limited, records‑related notifications in play.
Judge keeps injunction in place, blocks forced‑outing rules
San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Michael Sachs declined to dissolve the injunction that stopped the district from enforcing the parts of its 2023 policy that would have required staff to notify parents when a student requested to be treated by a different name or pronoun. The judge found those blanket disclosure requirements likely target a protected class and raised constitutional problems. At the same time, the court made clear parents can still ask the school about their child and the district may notify parents when school records are changed.
District vows to keep notifying parents despite ruling
Chino Valley Unified School District Board President Sonja Shaw said the board adopted a rewritten, gender‑neutral policy and expects staff will continue to notify parents “when necessary.” Shaw added that, in her view, “another decision in a kangaroo court with a dishonorable judge isn’t going to stop us.” Liberty Justice Center counsel argued the district must be able to tell parents when something happens to their minor child at school, while state lawyers warned that the district’s revised policy may still overreach.
Legal fight is part of a bigger statewide battle
This ruling is the latest round in a larger clash over parental rights, student privacy, and anti‑discrimination law in California. The state Attorney General sued after the original policy was adopted, and laws and court rulings—like those flowing from the Mirabelli litigation and state statutes—have tightened rules about forced outing and school staff disclosures. The judge’s decision preserves existing limits while leaving narrow room for records‑based notification, not the blanket outing the board once tried to impose.
What comes next and why conservatives should care
The district can appeal, and expect more filings and fights from both sides. Conservatives who care about parental rights should press for a clear, lawful path that balances parents’ legitimate interest in their children with students’ privacy and safety. That means pushing smart policy, not headline‑grabbing edicts that courts will toss. If Chino Valley wants to win this argument in the long run, it should craft a targeted policy that survives judicial scrutiny — or be ready to keep fighting in a courtroom that apparently isn’t listening to accusations of kangaroos.
