by Luke Sprinkel
A pair of non-profit public interest law firms have threatened to sue Rochester Public Schools (RPS) if the district utilizes its new pro-transgender policy to “transition a child without parental consent.”
Just weeks ago, the RPS school board gave final authorization to a new policy governing how the district will “address the needs and concerns of transgender and/or gender-expansive students” in its schools. According to that policy, if a child changes their name, or begins using a different bathroom, the school district will only alert the child’s parents if the parent specifically asks about such information.
In short, the school district’s policy does not require RPS to immediately inform parents if their child is attempting to “transition.”
As such, the Upper Midwest Law Center (UMLC) and the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), organizations that specialize in protecting constitutional rights, wrote to RPS denouncing the district’s transgender policy.
“The policy gives minor students in the District—with no age limit—the ‘right’ to change their names, pronouns, and bathroom use, all without parental consent. Indeed, the policy states explicitly that ‘parent/guardian consent is not required’ for students to socially transition to a different gender identity at school, nor will the District even notify parents,” wrote the two law firms.
The UMLC and WILL subsequently informed the school district that the transgender policy is unconstitutional and RPS should expect a federal lawsuit from UMLC and WILL if the school district “ever applies this policy to transition a minor child without parental notice or consent.”
“Parents have a constitutional right to guide the upbringing, education, and care of their children,” said UMLC Senior Counsel James Dickey in a press statement. “Yet school districts like Rochester are ignoring parents’ concerns and even actively working against them. Alongside WILL, we instruct the district to swiftly change its policy to avoid undermining parents and harming children.”
The law firms urged RPS to rescind its transgender policy in the interest of parental rights and the care of students.
The RPS transgender policy is not the only example of the district’s embrace of gender ideology.
Just weeks ago, Alpha News reported that a parental rights group called Parents Defending Education obtained many documents from RPS which confirmed the district held staff trainings designed to push left-wing ideas on sexuality and social justice.
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Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
