Murrieta Valley USD's 'Outing Policy' Denounced By CA Attorney General

MURRIETA, CA — The first week of school in the Murrieta Valley Unified School District featured a passionate Board of Education meeting Thursday with a lengthy discussion about a controversial update to the district's parental notification policy.

The meeting also caught the attention of California's top lawmaker.

In a 3-2 vote, the board voted to require the district to quickly notify students' parents if their child wants to be identified by a gender other than what is shown on official records. This includes students who want to use names different from their legal names or use pronouns that don't align with their biological sex per official records.

Trustees Linda Lunn and Nancy Young cast the dissenting votes on the policy that was backed by Trustees Paul F. Diffley III, Nicolas Pardue, and Julie Vandegrift. The policy was modeled after one put in place last month by the Chino Valley Unified School District.

The board's split vote was similar to division among the more than 60 people who turned out at Thursday's meeting to speak on the issue.

"This policy is a safeguard to our right to parent," one MVUSD dad said. It was a sentiment shared by those at Thursday's meeting who were on the side of putting the notification in place.

On the other hand, many who attended the meeting called for the district to abandon the policy, claiming it will harm LGBTQ kids — many of whom already feel marginalized.

"It will put children at risk — not just from some parents but the kids' own demons," said an educator, who pointed out an increased risk of suicide among LGBTQ students.

With the vote, the district stepped into unchartered territory that could prove financially costly.

Dina Harris, an attorney for the MVUSD, confirmed that the policy, as drafted, exposes the district to legal risk. She recommended that vagueries in the language be firmed up. Thursday's 3-2 vote included a directive that district staff develop a process on how to roll out the policy.

California school districts have been under watch, and on Friday California Attorney General Rob Bonta denounced the MVUSD policy.

"I am deeply disturbed to learn another school district has put at risk the safety and privacy of transgender and gender nonconforming students by adopting a forced outing policy," Bonta said. "My office remains committed to ensuring school policies do not target or seek to discriminate against California’s most vulnerable communities. California will not stand for violations of our students’ civil rights."

Bonta warned the Chino Hills Unified School District about its decision last month to adopt what the state leader also called an "outing policy."

Bonta sent a letter last month to CVUSD Superintendent Norman Enfield and the district's board, emphasizing "potential infringements" on students' civil and privacy rights and educational opportunities.

"Chino Valley Unified’s forced outing policy threatens the safety and well-being of LGBTQ+ students vulnerable to harassment and potential abuse from peers and family members unaccepting of their gender identity," Bonta said in a released statement following the CVUSD decision.

The attorney general may have federal law on his side.

A federal judge last month dismissed a lawsuit challenging the Chico Unified School District's policy of protecting the gender identities of students from their parents. U.S. District Court Judge John Mendez said in a ruling that the authority of the district to safeguard the information overrode parental rights.

Currently, the California Department of Education and the California School Boards Association advise that school officials obtain student consent before sharing a child's gender identity with others — including parents.

According to Bonta's office, 77% of students known or perceived as transgender reported negative experiences such as harassment and assault, and over half of transgender and nonbinary youth reported seriously considering suicide in the past year.

California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond sent a letter to the board Thursday, imploring trustees to not adopt the policy.

Pardue, a teacher who was elected to the MVUSD board in November after financial backing from the Inland Empire Family PAC led by Pastor Tim Thompson of 412 Church Temecula Valley, bashed the state and said the board policy sends a "strong signal to the community that we stand for parental rights."

The Inland Empire Family PAC works "to stop the indoctrination of our children by placing candidates on school boards who will fight for Christian and Conservative values."

Lunn, whose children attend school in the MVUSD, called the policy a sham, one that has nothing to do with protecting students or parents.

The policy is about "picking a fight with Sacramento, funded by your tax dollars" in an effort to get in front of the state Supreme Court, Lunn said.

The goal is not to win the policy fight but instead "bankrupt public education," Lunn continued. "This board policy is straight out of the clown factory and I want no part of it."