California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023, said the wave of school districts requiring parents to be told if their child is transgender “is of grave concern.” (File photo by Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
Temecula’s school board once again finds itself in Sacramento’s crosshairs.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a statement Wednesday, Aug. 23, rebuking the board’s decision, along with other Southern California school boards, to approve a policy requiring parents to be told if their child identifies as transgender.
RELATED: Temecula school board OKs policy to tell parents if students are transgender
“The rise in school districts adopting policies that target California’s vulnerable LGBTQ+ student population is of grave concern,” Bonta, a Democrat, said in the statement.
“My office is closely monitoring the situation and will not tolerate districts compromising the safety and privacy of transgender and gender nonconforming students,” Bonta said. “We will remain committed to ensuring school policies do not violate students’ civil rights.”
Earlier this month, Bonta opened a civil rights investigation into the Chino Valley school board’s adoption of a parental notification policy. He issued a similar statement as Wednesday’s after the Murrieta school board’s adoption of a nearly identical policy.
Following a packed marathon meeting filled with emotional public testimony, the Temecula Valley Unified School District board voted 3-2 in the early morning hours of Wednesday, Aug. 23, to adopt their policy.
At the board meeting, board President Joseph Komrosky defended the rule and accused Bonta, Gov. Gavin Newsom and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond of trying to use a “wedge … to divide the parents from their kids.”
“In an educational setting (this) is dangerous territory,” Komrosky said. “I’m not going to have it on my watch.”
The actions of the board’s conservative majority have drawn the ire of Sacramento’s Democratic leadership. The state Department of Education in June launched an investigation into Temecula schools after the board initially rejected a social studies curriculum that referenced LGBTQ civil rights leader Harvey Milk.
Newsom threatened to send textbooks to Temecula and fine the district $1.5 million if it didn’t adopt the curriculum. The board eventually did so in July but put the teaching of one unit on hold until it’s reviewed.
