Chino Valley School Board stands up for parental rights

In a 4-1 vote on July 20, the Chino Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) school board approved adopting a controversial resolution. The district is located in San Bernardino County in Southern California.

The Parental Notification Policy that was voted on requires schools to notify parents if:

1.Their children have had any significant physical injury while at school.

2.A school employee suspects or has knowledge of a student’s suicidal intentions.

3.There is any incident or complaint of a verbal or physical altercation involving their child, including incidents of bullying by or against a student.

4.A student is requesting to be identified or treated as a gender other than the student’s biological sex.

“This policy is meant to foster trust between district employees, and our students’ parents and guardians,” CVUSD President Sonja Shaw said. “I stand for the authority of parents to guide the upbringing of their children and their involvement in decisions related to their education, health, safety, and wellbeing.”

“Schools should never keep secrets from parents, nor put teachers in a position where they have to lie to them,” she said.

“It is slanderous to accuse parents of being a dangerous threat to their child just because they disagree with their child’s chosen gender identity,” Shaw said. “Schools have no right to keep secrets from loving parents just because they believe biology determines a child’s sex. If teachers really believe a student is not safe at home, they have an obligation, as mandated reporters, to notify the authorities. This notification policy does not change that requirement.”

In April, the board supported Assembly Bill 1314, which was introduced by Assemblymember Bill Essayli (R-Riverside). The legislation would have forced California school districts to notify parents that their child is gender-nonconforming or transgender. Essayli claimed the proposed law would address school districts that recognized a child’s preferred gender without their parent’s knowledge.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate for schools to keep parents in the dark,” Essayli told KTTV-TV News shortly before his bill failed to make it out of committee in the democrat-controlled state legislature.

During the CVUSD Board meeting, California State Superintendent of Schools Tony Thurmond reportedly continually interrupted the proceedings.

Thurmond also offered his thoughts, which were met with criticism from Shaw.

“I support parent rights, but I also support the safety of our students,” Thurmond said at the meeting.

After he was done, Shaw thanked Thurmond for coming but then added, “We’re here because of people like you. You’re in Sacramento, proposing things that pervert children.” At this point Thurmond returned to the microphone in an attempt to respond, an action which disregarded the rules established for everyone else. Despite Shaw’s repeated attempts to get Thurmond to sit down, he refused. She then called for a 5-minute recess.

According to the video and a press release from the school district, school security approached Thurmond and asked him to sit back in his seat. Instead of sitting Thurmond walked out of the room followed by staff, supporters and a security guard.

After the meeting, Thurmond doubled down on his opposition, “What I saw here tonight was just catering to a mob mentality that has disregard for the safety of many of our students who are vulnerable and at risk.”

On the other side, parents offered their support for the board member’s efforts.

“You are causing a ripple effect, and you should be proud of what you’re doing,” said one parent.

Shaw revealed in an interview on “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins” that her district received an anonymous phone call threatening her life and threatening to “dismember” her just one day after the vote was taken.

“A lot of things were said, but one thing was very clear — this person was going to kill me, and they said they were going to dismember my body parts, my limbs more specifically,” Shaw told Perkins.

When Shaw checked her district email, she was overwhelmed with more threatening messages, such as “You’re going to die,” “Your children are going to die,” and “Your animals are going to die.” The emails even included references to her personal life and the kind of animals she owned to further intimidate her.

Further, the left-wing terrorist organization Antifa posted on their website, “We declare war on Sonja Shaw.” They posted her personal address as well along with the message, “Use all force possible to stop her.”

“To me, as nerve wracking as that is — because I’m a parent, I’m a mother — it was devastating. Because why are we doing this? To keep kids safe,” Shaw said.

On Aug. 4, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that he was opening a civil rights investigation into potential legal violations by CVUSD.
His office’s statement read: “California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced opening a civil rights investigation into potential legal violations by the Chino Valley Unified School District (CVUSD), which adopted a policy that forces schools to “out” students whose gender identities may be changing. Enacted in July, the “Parental Notification Policy” requires schools to inform parents, with minimal exceptions, whenever a student requests to use a name or pronoun different from that on their birth certificate or official records, even if such disclosure is against the student’s wishes or could expose a student to parental abuse or increase their risk of self-harm or suicide. The policy also requires notification if a student accesses facilities or participates in programs that don’t align with their sex on official records. Attorney General Bonta sent a letter last month to Superintendent Norman Enfield and the Board of Education, emphasizing the potential infringements on students’ civil and privacy rights and educational opportunities.

Each member of the Mariposa County Unified School District School Board, which includes Robert C. Hill, Kimberly Harper, Bob Morse, Jennifer Kiser, and Bob Collins, were sent an email on Aug. 7 from the The Mariposan with the following question: As a member of the Mariposa County Unified School District School Board would you support or oppose the adoption of the resolution recently approved by the Chino Valley Unified School Board as a Parental Notification Policy that requires school staff to notify parents if:

1.Their children have had any significant physical injury while at school.

2.A school employee suspects or has knowledge of a student’s suicidal intentions.

3.There is any incident or complaint of a verbal or physical altercation involving their child, including incidents of bullying by or against a student.

4. A student is requesting to be identified or treated as a gender other than the student’s biological sex.

Do you think MCUSD should wait until the civil suit being filed by Attorney General Rob Bonta against the Chino Valley Unified School District is settled?

Please respond by return email by 5 p.m., August 11, 2023. If you prefer not to submit a statement or comment, please reply “no comment.”

The response from members of the MCUSD School Board were:
Robert Hill: “No comment.”
Kimberly Harper: “No comment.”
Robert Collins: “At this time I have no comment in that I would prefer investigating Chino Valley’s situation further.”
Bob Morse, “I don’t feel comfortable commenting on this until I have all the information, so my response would be no comment at this time.”
Jennifer Kiser: “I’m working to understand the issue. Lots to learn, so for now, no comment.”
(Editor’s Note. This story was compiled from reports issued by multiple media sources.)