Judge Denies CVUSD’s Latest Attempt to Restore Forced Outing Policy
A San Bernardino County Superior Court judge on Tuesday (Sept. 15) denied Chino Valley Unified School District’s motion to dissolve a permanent injunction against its forced outing policy that requires teachers to inform parents if their student asks to change their name or pronouns, seeks access to activities that do not align with the gender on their birth certificates, or asks to change their school records.
A San Bernardino County Superior Court judge on Tuesday (Sept. 15) denied Chino Valley Unified School District’s motion to dissolve a permanent injunction against its forced outing policy that requires teachers to inform parents if their student asks to change their name or pronouns, seeks access to activities that do not align with the gender on their birth certificates, or asks to change their school records.
However, Judge Michael Sachs modified his original injunction to include a provision that the district has an obligation to release the information about their minor children to parents who request the information. Current California law already allows parents access to their student’s official records; Sachs said the modification was a clarification that was in alignment with a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
“While parents have a fundamental right, this court … held the district cannot adopt a policy that attempts to foster those rights when policy language violates a minor student’s Equal Protection rights,” Sachs said. He also suggested that the district insert the modified language in its current policy.
The original policy was passed by the school board in July 2023, and other districts followed suit. State Attorney General Rob Bonta sued, alleging the policy discriminated against transgender students. Judge Sachs agreed, saying it violated the Constitution’s Equal Protection clause, and he issued a preliminary injunction to block the policy in October 2023. However, he allowed one provision to stand, which requires parents to be notified if a student requests a change in their official records. He explained that clause affects all students, not just those seeking gender-affirming accommodations. The district modified its policy in March 2024 to reflect the court ruling, removing wording referencing gender and broadening the policy to require schools to notify parents if their child changes any part of their official or unofficial record.
Attorneys with the California Justice Center and Advocates for Faith & Freedom, representing the district, filed their latest motion in May 2026, requesting the court revisit its ruling following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Mirabelli vs. Bonta, which involved two teachers who sued because their school district prohibited parental notification about a change in their student’s gender identity. Sachs pointed out that the facts of this case were different, since notifying parents in Chino Valley is not prohibited—it’s just that teachers cannot be forced to notify parents.
Attorney Emily Rae of the California Justice Center told Sachs argued that the modified language in his ruling did not go far enough.
“If you have a policy where you’re not telling parents in a mandatory, affirmative basis, those parents are still being kept in the dark,” she argued.
Attorney Delbert Tran of the state Attorney General’s office disagreed, saying the board made its true beliefs known when they called transgender students “mentally ill” and said changes to gender identity was a “threat to humanity.”
“California law has long protected parental rights without discriminating against transgender students,” he said. “Parents can learn about their children’s behavior at school if they observe classrooms, if they talk to teachers, if they request school records.” Parents are provided information about those rights at the start of every school year, he said.
CVUSD incurred over $1 million in legal fees in the 2025-26 school year, far outpacing other districts of a similar size.
"It's about time our school board stops recklessly spending taxpayer dollars on its obsession with LGBTQ students and starts focusing on education," said Lisa Greathouse of Chino Valley Defenders of Public Education, a group of parents, students and community members seeking to protect and preserve quality public education. "Discriminatory policies like this one damage the trust among students and teachers and are detrimental to creating safe and inclusive environments in our schools."
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