Transgender notification policy overturned in Murrieta Valley schools – Press Enterprise

The Murrieta Valley School Board has reversed its controversial policy of notifying parents if a student is transgender.

In a 3-2 vote, board President Paul Diffley and members Linda Lunn and Nancy Young voted last month to revoke the rule, while trustees Nick Pardue and Julie Vandegrift voted to keep it.

Adopted in August 2023, the policy required schools to inform parents within three days if their child identified as transgenderhave looked into gender-affirming facilities or tried to change their name or pronouns.

In an Oct. 10 letter to the public included on the board’s agenda for that night’s meeting, Murrieta Valley Unified School District officials said they had not implemented the policy.

During the Oct. 10 meeting, Pardue said the policy came to the board’s attention three times, and that’s because the board tries to be transparent.

After the board approved the rule in 2023, it he returned the following year for a second vote in March and was kept on record by district received a letter from the state asking it to stop enforcing the policy. Policy passed again in April by a 3-2 votewith Pardue, Diffley and Vandegrift voting for.

Diffley and Pardue had originally proposed the policy.

“I’m a firm believer and I believe in the Constitution,” Pardue said in the Oct. 10 meeting. “I think these parents’ rights will hold up in court.”

Pardue, who was endorsed in 2022 by the conservative Inland Empire Family PACreferred to a suit filed by Chino Valley Unified School District et al against the state after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 1955. The the law prevents school districts from creating and implementing parent notification policies.

In August, the Murrieta School Board decided not to join the Chino Valley lawsuit against the law.

Vandegrift also followed the rule and reiterated the history of the policy and explained what she believed to be its importance.

Speakers at the meeting were divided on the issue, with parents and teachers on both sides criticizing the district. Those in favor of overturning the policy said there was no need and there was no violation of parents’ rights. Supporters said good comes when parents are involved and informed about their children’s lives.