(The Center Square) – A California school district’s policy of requiring parental notification whenever students seek to change official or unofficial student records was upheld in court and not appealed by the state, suggesting a partial victory for both the state and school district on the matter of paternal notification for student-initiated gender-related records changes.
In 2023, Chino Valley Unified School District adopted a policy requiring parents to be notified if their children request to officially change their pronouns, go by a different name, or use facilities or school programs for children of the opposite gender. In response, California Attorney General Rob Bonta supported lawsuits against the districts, and bill AB 1955, which was signed into law and banned parental notification for gender change requests.
A judge issued an injunction against Chino Valley’s policy, while upholding its right to require parental notifications for minor students requesting official or unofficial records requests — which could, in the absence of AB 1955, include gender change requests.
Chino Valley has sued to block AB 1955, which took effect on January 1 2025, in a still-undecided case. Notably, entrepreneur Elon Musk cited AB 1955 as a motivating factor in his decision to move headquarters out of the state.
Both Liberty Justice Center, which represented Chino Valley in its case to protect its policy and is representing the district in its AB 1955 case, and Bonta represented the judge’s ruling as a win.
“Because Attorney General Bonta did not appeal the court’s decision by the legal deadline to do so, the case has formally closed,” wrote LJC in a statement. “Therefore, in a victory for parents’ rights, the Chino Valley Unified School District may continue to enforce its updated parental notification policy.”
“The decision from the Court to grant a permanent injunction and declaratory relief against Chino Valley Unified’s initial forced outing policy is a win for all students in Chino Valley and across the State,” said Bonta when the ruling came out in September. “This ruling, consistent with our previously secured preliminary injunction, reaffirms this obligation by ensuring no child becomes a target again by blocking Chino Valley Unified from ever adopting another forced outing policy.”
