Commonwealth Policy Center

What happens when a public school engages in the social gender transition of a sixth-grader without telling the parents? In the case of a California middle school, the mother sued. Jessica Konen learned that her 12 year old daughter’s middle school referred to her with male pronouns and allowed her to use the boys’ restrooms. And they kept it secret from Konen. But not without consequence. The Spreckels Union School District in Monterey County paid $100,000 to settle out of court with Konen. And there’s a lesson here for schools across the nation and across the Commonwealth: parental rights trump gender ideology. Students are not social experiments, and being truthful about a child’s biological gender and protecting their well being must be paramount for public school personnel.