Rocklin school board passes parental notification policy after protest, hours of public comment

After nearly four hours of often impassioned testimony, the Rocklin Unified School District Board of Trustees voted 4-1 early Thursday morning to require teachers and staff to alert a student’s parents if they request to use different pronouns, go by a different name, or otherwise indicate that they are reconsidering their gender identity.

More than 200 parents, teachers, staff and students attended the Wednesday night board meeting to take on one of the most contentious topics in California politics: gender identity and parental notification. Members of the Rocklin Teachers Professional Association, the California Teachers Association, LGBTQ people and supporters rallied before the session to protest the policy.

The board’s vote was unsurprising given its makeup — four GOP-approved trustees and one moderate. Michelle Sutherland, the only member without an endorsement by the Placer County Republican Party, was the lone dissenter.

She spoke against not just the proposed policy but against her colleagues’ “fringe political aims.”

“I’m disappointed that you all are choosing to follow this agenda,” Sutherland said in her remarks before public comment started. “As of 6pm tonight, we received 184 emails in opposition and 22 in support ... this is a fringe issue that’s targeting a very small and vulnerable group of our kids in Rocklin Unified.”

Before the board’s final vote, when only dozens of attendees were left in the meeting hall, she expressed more disappointment.

“This is addressing a problem that doesn’t exist,” she said. “Nobody (in the district) is encouraging secrecy.”

But the four other members — Dereck Counter, Tiffany Saathoff, Rachelle Price, and board president Julie Hupp — stated their intent to support the changes to parental notification before hearing from the public. They were unswayed by the hours of comments about how such a policy may harm LGBTQ individuals, or cost the district in time and money if there are legal issues.

“It’s been said many times tonight that this is a political agenda, a religious agenda,” said Saathoff. “I will reiterate that I’ve had parents, teachers, staff approach me about this policy because they’re very concerned for a variety of reasons.”

Saathoff sought to dispel concerns about the policy’s legality, reiterating that the board “received very clear legal counsel that the policy ... does not break state or federal law.” She said she met with multiple civil rights attorneys “at the state and federal level that have agreed with that.”

Proponents of the amendment are vocal parents’ rights advocates who say the state is overstepping its power by excluding parents from a life-changing decision by their children. Opponents say it would force teachers to out trans students, violate their privacy, and potentially threaten their safety.

Legal problems are mounting for school districts that have passed similar policies. On Wednesday afternoon, just hours before the RUSD board met, a San Bernardino County Superior Court judge ordered a temporary pause to the Chino Valley Unified School District’s parental notification rules, which it approved in July. Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office had filed a lawsuit, saying the provisions violated students’ constitutional rights.

There have also been legal repercussions on the opposite side. Late last month, a Monterey County school board reached a $100,000 settlement with a mother who said the school enabled her daughter’s “social transition” without her consent.

Parents, teachers and students speak out

By 5:30pm, a line of dissenters and supporters wrapped around the RUSD office on Sierra Meadows Drive. Many stood for three, four, and five hours in the late summer heat to speak for their allotted two minutes.

Members of the public spoke from about 8:15pm to 12:15am early Thursday morning, with only a few disruptions. A majority — about two thirds — spoke against the proposal. Many read letters or comments they say were written by anonymous trans and non-binary RUSD students.

“You should be ashamed for even discussing this policy,” said Whitney High School teacher and Rocklin Teachers Professional Association President Travis Mougeotte.

Jessica Hardy, a 3rd grade teacher and the district’s 2023 Teacher of the Year, spoke against it, as did Meredith Kane, a Whitney High School English teacher. Several teachers said they would simply not comply.

The Whitney High School student body president, Nayeli Glaude, and student board representative, Sophie Burns, issued a joint statement of dissent.

Lawyers also addressed concerns about the legality of the policy, including Jennifer Chow of the ACLU.

But there were plenty of supporters as well. Parents from the district and surrounding districts insisted that more parental involvement is crucial for healthy kids. In a school system that notifies parents when their child is injured on the playground, for example, surely notifying a parent when their child undergoes a change of identity is a logical — and not political or agendized — issue.

“Tonight what we are discussing and addressing is a conversation with a parent,” Saathoff stressed, at the end of the meeting. “There is no state or federal law that says a student’s rights supersedes a parent’s.”

Board addresses ‘Christ centered’ comments

The board heard calls for Hupp to be removed from her position.

At the end of August, Hupp posted on her official Facebook page a call for “Christ centered, family focused parents” to volunteer on advisory committees in the district. Her comments drew outrage from community members who say she’s bringing conservative Christian values into an historically non-partisan public office at the exclusion of other communities. She posted a follow-up a few days later.

“In answer to a question I am receiving, Yes, I asked for Christ loving individuals to join committees,” she wrote on August 25. “All faiths and all child loving people are encouraged to sign up. The inclusion of one does not mean the exclusion of others.”

The feedback from her Facebook posts prompted a statement as she opened the meeting.

“I would never intentionally exclude anyone from participating in our schools,” she said to the crowded room. “As soon as it was pointed out to me that someone felt excluded, I made the second post.”

“I’ve taught, loved, and served in this community and nearby for 30-plus years,” she continued. “In those years I taught hundreds of children and genuinely loved them as well as their families. Not one has ever reported feeling discriminated against and not one would ever report me trying to teach Sunday school in a classroom. Moving forward, it is my full intention to continue loving children and serving families with all the passions of my heart as I have always done.”

Sutherland called out her colleague, and was the only other board member to do so.

“There are likely people who are here concerned about President Hupp’s exclusionary call to action,” she said.

“I think it’s really important that all RUSD families feel valued and represented by this Board ... when the Board president asks for as many ‘Christ centered, family focused — what does that mean? — it signals that there’s a priority on volunteers who share her personal values.”