Parental rights advocate America First Legal (AFL) has filed a lawsuit on behalf of Mesa Public Schools (MPS) board member Rachel Walden against the school district and MPS Superintendent Andi Fourlis. The lawsuit argues that MPS policy violates Arizona's Parents’ Bill of Rights and other statutes by allowing district employees to help students identify as members of the opposite sex without informing parents.
"Not only do parents have the fundamental right to direct the upbringing of their children, but the Constitution and Arizona law forbid the types of policies we are challenging here for our client," said Gene Hamilton, America First Legal Vice President and General Counsel. "School districts like MPS have an obligation to notify parents if their child attempts to identify as a different sex. The people of Mesa are rightly outraged by these radical policies and we will fight for the right of every parent to direct the upbringing of their children."
AFL argues in its lawsuit that the policy violates multiple statutes, particularly Arizona's Parents' Bill of Rights, which recognizes the right of parents to "direct the upbringing, education, and mental health of their children." AFL further argues that the policy violates statutes requiring that parents be notified in advance of any instruction or presentation regarding sexuality and the requirement of parental consent before any “mental health screening in a nonclinical setting or mental health treatment on a minor.”
According to AFL, since at least 2015, MPS has had a policy of assisting students in gender transition. Under this policy, school district employees are required to keep this information from parents if students do not want them to be notified. The policy even includes advice for students on how to hide the fact that they’ve been talking to district employees about their gender identity from their parents.
Furthermore, the policy permits students to use locker rooms and showers designated for the opposite sex, making the situation even more concerning.
In response to complaints about the non-notification policy, MPS has tried to revise the policy to acknowledge the legal obligation for parental notification but still permit school employees to discuss students' sexual identity without informing parents. Under the latest policy, MPS employees are only required to notify parents after they've started helping a student transition socially, but its unclear if those notifications are going out.
Mesa is the third-largest city in Arizona, and MPS is the largest school district in Arizona, serving roughly 55,000 students.