Rocklin school board will work with conservative legal group for trans parent notification policy

Jenavieve Hatch
·4 min read
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The Rocklin Unified School District Board of Trustees voted Wednesday night to enter into a legal agreement with the Liberty Justice Center in its ongoing legal battle with the California Department of Education.

Four members of the five-person board voted Wednesday to work with the group, which has offered to represent the district pro-bono, after the CDE filed a writ of mandate against the district in April requiring that RUSD revoke the parental notification policy board members passed last fall. The policy requires school staff to inform a student’s parents if a student requests to go by a name or pronoun that is not aligned with their biological sex.

The Chicago-based Liberty Justice Center, which represents several conservative institutions and champions conservative causes, touts itself as “a nonprofit, nonpartisan, public-interest litigation firm that seeks to protect economic liberty, private property rights, free speech, and other fundamental rights.” The organization is currently representing Chino Valley Unified School District in Southern California, where the school board passed a similar parental notification policy last August.

Advancing a ‘political agenda’

Michelle Sutherland, elected to the Rocklin board in 2022, was the sole dissenting vote on Wednesday night. She was also the only board member to vote against the parental notification policy last September. She told her fellow board members that she wished they would let the issue go, by either rescinding the policy or informing students and parents that they won’t enforce it while the courts decide the legality of such policies.

“We don’t need to drag our community through this again,” said Sutherland, referring to the marathon Sept. 6 meeting that lasted well into the early morning of Sept. 7. “It’s already in the courts. People are tired of this. Responding through litigation will only benefit your political clout.”

Sutherland said that her conservative colleagues on the board “cherry-picked an out-of-state firm that’s going to tell you exactly what you want to hear.”

“Liberty Justice Center ... is a firm that views all aspects of this matter through a political lens that aligns with the board majority.”

The organization “will use our community and our district’s name to fund-raise for their cause,” she said. “They’re not providing these services out of the goodness of their hears. They’re doing it to advance this political agenda.”

About 50 community members attended Wednesday’s meeting, and 13 spoke about the Liberty Justice Center action item. Only two spoke in support of the potential legal agreement.

“Getting your own counsel is the American way,” said James Jenkins, a Roseville resident who does not have children in the district.

Most who spoke during public comment did so against the board’s proposal.

“As an attorney myself,” said Jessie Nibley, a parent of students in the district, “I would tell any client to run, not walk, away from a firm offering something like this.”

Nibley agreed with Sutherland, and shared concerns about the organization using Rocklin to “serve their agenda, as stated clearly on their website, through cutting edge strategic, precedent setting litigation.”

‘I know you’re not listening’

A sentiment shared by many who spoke during public comment is the fear that the conservative-majority board members have their minds made up before hearing from community residents.

“I know you’re not listening to me,” said Rex Carpenter, who’s lived in Rocklin for more than 30 years. “But for me to remain silent is not an option.”

Rex Carpenter, a Rocklin resident with a granddaughter in middle school, kicked off the hours-long public comment period at the Rocklin Unified School District Board meeting Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023, by saying, “I’m here tonight to ask you to do no harm,” advocating for young people in vulnerable home situations. He spoke in opposition to a policy that would require staff to notify families within days of a student’s choosing to be identified as any name, nickname, or gender that does not match enrollment records or is not a “common” nickname recognized by the school.

Board President Tiffany Saathoff, the Chief of Staff for Republican Assemblyman Joe Patterson and a former pastor at Rocklin’s Destiny Church, told the community Wednesday night that just because the board feels differently than its community members does not mean that they aren’t hearing their constituents.

“I really do hear and understand concerns when they’re brought up,” Saathoff said. “I know how frustrating it can be to share something and not feel heard because a decision went a different way. Sometimes I’m teased for talking too much, but my hope is that by communicating my ‘Why,’ that it hopefully shows the community that I am listening, and although I may not agree, I do feel that our entire community has a right to know why decisions are made.”

Saathoff said she wants to remain transparent with the community, and seek as much legal guidance about the issue of student privacy and parental involvement as possible.

“I fully support student privacy in our school systems,” she said. “I think for me, where this gets difficult, is when we are suggesting that there is student privacy independent from a parent, specifically five-year-olds, six-year-olds, seven-year-olds. And for that reason, I do think it’s important that we get clear, legal clarification regarding this matter.”

The board, which has shown no indication that they will rescind the parental notification policy, then voted at a 4-1 majority in support of the legal agreement.