Lawmakers Urge RivCo Superintendent To Resign Over Trans Policies

RIVERSIDE, CA — Two California lawmakers are calling for Riverside Unified School District's superintendent to step down over transgender policies that they say give more rights to "biological boys," according to a joint statement.

Inland Empire Assemblymembers Bill Essayli and Leticia Castillo plan to attend the RUSD board meeting on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. to call for Superintendent Renee Hill to resign over policies that have steeped Riverside's Martin Luther King High School in controversy.

Last month, two female students — a ninth-grade girl and an 11th-grade girl — filed a lawsuit claiming that a trans girl ousted them from their positions on the school's cross-country team.

"Riverside USD has failed to protect young girls on campus," Essayli said in a statement. "In their own words, young girls have repeatedly said they do not feel safe with boys in their locker rooms and bathrooms — and still nothing has been done."

Essayli continued, urging this is not the first time the school has faced controversy surrounding its transgender policies.

Last year, a transgender student was reportedly expelled after they were accused of assaulting a girl in a dispute over their use of a female locker room.

"Students and parents alike have called for girls' bathrooms to be reserved for biological girls only. Anything less is an assault on the rights and safety of female students and athletes," Castillo said, adding that Hill has been "derelict in her duty to ensure the safety of female students."

The lawsuit filed last month also alleges that the girls' protest t-shirts, which read “Save Girls’ Sports” and "It’s Common Sense. XX ≠ XY," were compared to wearing swastikas in front of Jewish students.

"It is inappropriate to compare vulnerable young women to Nazis simply because they do not agree with a radical agenda that compromises their safety in order to appease well-funded and influential groups that have inserted themselves into public education," Castillo said.

READ MORE: TVUSD School Board Backtracks Controversial LGBTQ+ Policies

The RUSD Board of Education meeting will have a closed session at 4 p.m. The open session, which can be live-streamed here, will begin at 5:30 p.m. The meeting will otherwise be held in person at 6735 Magnolia Ave. in the board room at the Riverside Adult School and is open to the public.

According to the district, an overflow meeting room with limited seating and a television monitor will be available if the main Board Room reaches capacity.

According to the district's meeting agenda, school officials will review a report discussing access to student athletics and facilities.

Opponents of the school's transgender policies say that the school has violated students' First Amendment rights when some female students spoke out against the school's policies.

At the Thursday night meeting, the board will also discuss students' First Amendment rights, according to the board's agenda.