Rocklin Unified facing second lawsuit for divisive policy

Riley Carroll
·1 min read
4

(FOX40.COM) — There was more movement on Wednesday night in the effort to have a Rocklin Unified School District policy repealed that requires school staff to notify parents if their child asks to be referred to as a different gender or name at school.

The second lawsuit has been filed by the California Department of Education.

The first was by the Rocklin Teachers Professional Association, which filed the suit shortly after the policy was passed by the school board in September.

At the time, the teachers’ union said the policy was an “illegal, forced ‘outing’ policy.”

More on the Rocklin Unified policy
•Board considers policy changes regarding transgender, gender-nonconforming students
•Rocklin school board approves transgender, gender-nonconforming policy revision
•State attorney general condemns Rocklin Unified’s parent notification policy

State Attorney General Rob Bonta agreed in September, saying “Rocklin Unified has chosen to endanger their civil rights by adopting a policy that forcibly outs them without consideration of their safety and well-being.”

In February, the Dept. of Education opened an investigation into the policy and at the beginning of April filed a lawsuit against Rocklin Unified.

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The 34-page lawsuit alleges Rocklin Unified was asked to repeal the policy after it was found to unlawfully discriminate against marginalized students.

On Wednesday, the Rocklin Unified School District said in a statement:

“The California Department of Education has denied the Rocklin Unified School District’s request to reconsider CDE’s Investigation Report regarding Administrative Regulations 5020 and 5145.3 related to parental notification. On April 23, the school district was made aware that CDE initiated legal proceedings in the Placer County Superior Court regarding this matter. Rocklin Unified does not comment on pending litigation.”

The first hearing in the civil case is set for June 13.

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