A California high school disputed The Daily Signal’s recent report that it allows kids to transition gender without parental involvement, yet internal documents say parents are optional for ages 12 and up.
The Daily Signal reported on July 28 that the Newport-Mesa Unified School District allows students to complete so-called gender support plans, which lay out a course of action for a child’s social transition at school, without parental consent.
Newport Harbor High School sent a message to families on Friday calling The Daily Signal’s report “another attack on our school’s support of our LGBTQ+ community.”
“We do not refer students for gender-affirming care, nor do we have gender support plans without parental involvement,” the statement says. “The student-driven resources are intended to complement the essential role that parents play in their children’s lives.”
The message warned parents against sharing The Daily Signal’s article on social media, saying that “bad-faith actors out there don’t concern themselves with clarity or truth.”
“In fact, they thrive in the muck of innuendo, gossip, and misinformation,” the message continues. “Those who make false claims on social media or target programs and teachers in online hate campaigns normalize antisocial behavior.”
But the district doesn’t require parental involvement for students 12 and older, according to a document laying out the process of “Student Gender Support” in schools obtained through a public records request and shared with The Daily Signal. Children typically turn 12 in sixth grade.
While the district highly recommends parental involvement for all ages, it’s only mandatory for children ages 11 and younger. Still, If a child under 11 doesn’t want a parent involved, the district will “proceed to support the student.”
Last updated in September 2023, the gender support plan asks the student and administrator filling it out to identify the “level of support from parent/guardian.” It also asks if siblings at school are aware of the child’s gender identity.
According to internal emails obtained by the nonprofit legal group Center for American Liberty, the district’s student services administrative director, Sarah Coley, instructs her colleagues to share a child’s transgender status with the parents only if the child permits it.
“The gender support plan helps the transitioning student know the options and to designate the preference to the school administration, but it is not required for a student to have one,” Coley said in an Aug. 7, 2022, email in response to a question from a local parent. “It is encouraged to have parents part of the process, but under the law, it is not required.”
If Newport-Mesa truly was unwilling to use gender support plans without parental involvement, California law would require it to do so.
Assembly Bill 1955, recently signed into law by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, prohibits school districts from requiring schools to disclose a child’s gender identity to the parents.
When asked if the district plans to violate AB 1955 by requiring parental involvement in gender support plans, Newport-Mesa public relations officer said, “Our gender support plans include parental involvement because our students have wanted us to work in collaboration with them and their families.”
At a July 30 Board of Education meeting, Newport-Mesa’s superintendent denied another Daily Signal report about Newport Harbor High School having QR codes in its hallways directing students to the LGBTQ Center of Orange County’s “LGBTQ Affirming Therapy.” A link in the since-taken down webpage took students to a form that helps them connect with a therapist who can write a referral letter for transition procedures.
The QR codes can be spotted in the background of a May 7 Instagram post from the high school.
Newport Harbor addressed this report again in its message Friday.
“We do not partner with any of the resource providers, and none of our direct links are connected to gender transition counseling/therapy,” the statement says. “We support students and know they are more successful when we involve their parents and families in decisions that impact their lives.”
A local mom who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation against her family said schools should focus on education, not helping children find “affirming” therapy.
“They can gaslight all they want with their terms ‘misinformation’ and make it sound like people are attacking LGBTQ students, but the issue is NOT with students, but what the school is providing to them,” she told The Daily Signal.
“It’s very dangerous that these district ‘leaders,’ a superintendent and a principal, will outright lie to the public about something everyone can see with their own eyes,” the mom said.