EXCLUSIVE: Rhode Island school district accused of hiding kids' gender transitions from parents
EXCLUSIVE: Rhode Island school district accused of hiding kids' gender transitions from parents
FIRST ON FOX: A conservative legal group is calling on the Trump administration to investigate a school district over a policy that allegedly allows school officials to facilitate students' gender transitions behind their parents' backs, accusing the district of violating multiple federal civil rights laws.
America First Legal (AFL) filed a formal complaint Tuesday with the Justice Department and Department of Education targeting Westerly Public Schools in Westerly, Rhode Island, over a transgender student policy adopted in 2017.
"Westerly Public Schools' policy blatantly violates federal law, tramples on parents' rights, and embraces radical gender ideology," Ian Prior, senior counsel at America First Legal, told in a statement. "Male students claiming to be female receive every privilege while actual female students are shoved aside. AFL is calling on the Department of Justice and the Department of Education to step in and hold WPS accountable."
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The complaint from America First Legal alleges that Westerly Public Schools' transgender student policy, adopted in 2017, allows school officials to facilitate students' gender transitions, including changes to names, pronouns and school records, without parental notification or consent. The group also alleges the policy permits students to use bathrooms, locker rooms and participate in sports based on their gender identity rather than biological sex, while requiring students who object to seek separate accommodations.
The policy defines "Gender Identity" as "a person's deeply held sense or psychological knowledge of their own gender. One's gender identity can be the same or different than the gender assigned at birth. Most people have a gender identity that matches their assigned gender at birth. For some, however, their gender identity is different from their assigned gender."
The guidance for secondary students reads, "Generally, notification to a student's parent(s)/guardian(s) about their gender identity, expression, or transition is unnecessary, as they are already aware and supportive. However, some transgender students do not want their parents to know about their transgender status. These situations must be addressed on a case-by-case basis and require schools to balance the goal of supporting the student with the desire that parents be kept informed about their children."
It continues, "In these circumstances, school administration should ask the superintendent for direction on how to proceed. If the administration determines that notifying the family carries risks for the student, it should work closely with the student to assess the degree to which, if any, the family will be involved in the process and must consider the age, health, well-being and safety of the student."
America First Legal alleges the district's policy violates multiple federal laws, including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), by withholding information about students' gender transitions from parents, and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), by allowing certain student evaluations without parental consent.
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