Rockford public school district is sued for using child's pronouns without notifying parents
Two Rockford parents have filed a lawsuit against Rockford Public Schools for referring to their child with male pronouns without their consent or knowledge.
While the school did not inform the child's parents of their use of the child's requested masculine name and pronouns per district policy, Dan and Jennifer Mead claim that the school attempted to socially transition their child and conceal it, violating their parental rights.
The Meads' biologically female child had attended Rockford Public Schools, a district operating 20 schools in Rockford just north of Grand Rapids, since kindergarten, but after beginning sixth grade at East Rockford Middle School in fall of 2020, the child began meeting with the school counselor regarding a dip in their academic performance.
Over the next two years, the child continued regularly meeting with the school counselor, branching into other topics stressing the child's mental health. Throughout their meetings, the school counselor maintained open communication with the Meads concerning their child's mental state, leading the Meads to develop significant trust in the counselor and the school.
In May 2022, toward the end of their child's seventh-grade year, the Meads' then 13-year-old messaged the school counselor, asking to notify teachers of their switch to he/him pronouns and a masculine name. When the child started eighth grade in the fall, the school employees began calling the child by their preferred name and pronouns — without the Meads' consent or knowledge.
However, according to the lawsuit, this is in accordance to district policy, which states that Rockford schools can refer to a student by their preferred name and pronouns without notifying their parents if the child is not out to them yet.
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In October 2022, Dan Mead met with a district employee to discuss accommodations for the child's recently diagnosed autism when he received an official report from the school in which one teacher's response mistakenly used the child's preferred name instead of their legal name.
In the lawsuit, a neuropsychologist for the district stated that district policy requires employees to use a child's legal name and pronouns in paperwork while using preferred names and pronouns while interacting with the student. After spotting the mistake, the document was edited to reflect this policy, but the Meads interpreted the change as an extra effort to hide the truth.
The Meads asked the school to stop using their child's preferred name and pronouns, but the school refused, to remain pursuant to the district policy. Shortly after, the Meads took their child out of the school and began homeschooling them.
On Dec. 18, the Alliance Defending Freedom, an American conservative Christian legal advocacy group, sued the district on the Meads' behalf in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, Southern Division, on behalf of the Meads.
The lawsuit argues that the district's actions go against the Meads' first amendment rights: as Christians who believe that "biological sex ... is a gift from God, not an arbitrary imposition subject to change," as stated in the lawsuit, and that the Meads' right to religious freedom in raising their child was impeded by the school's policy. Additionally, the lawsuit argues that the Meads' 14th amendment rights, which guarantees parents’ rights to make decisions regarding their child’s upbringing, education and health care, were denied by the school district.
The lawsuit asks that Rockford Public Schools' policy be declared a violation of the first and 14th amendments. It also asks that the district cover any nominal or compensatory damages, such as the costs of homeschooling programs and damages from Dan Mead's inability to return to work in order to monitor his child's homeschooling, as well as attorney fees.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Rockford parents sue school district over child's pronouns
