CHICO — A Chico woman whose daughter made a “social transition” between genders filed a lawsuit against the Chico Unified School District in January, but a judge in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of California dismissed the case in July.
Aurora Regino, whose daughter attended Sierra View Elementary School, claimed in her lawsuit that a district employee attempted to “facilitate” the daughter’s gender transition. Regino’s suit named CUSD Superintendent Kelly Staley as a defendant, along with school board members Caitlin Dalby, Matt Tennis, Tom Lando, Eileen Robinson and Rebecca Konkin. All six were named as defendants in their official capacities only.
Specifically, the suit contended the CUSD’s “Parental Secrecy Policy” violated Regino’s 14th Amendment due-process rights. This occurred, Regino’s lawsuit said, when a school counselor sought to “socially transition” her 11-year-old daughter who was a fifth-grader during the 2021-22 school year.
When a student expresses a desire to live as a gender different than the child’s biological gender, the lawsuit claimed district officials will facilitate this change while keeping the social transition a secret from the student’s parents, unless the student specifically authorizes the district to inform them.
The lawsuit further claimed that under this policy, “schools in the district are prompting students to question their sexuality and gender, facilitating their social transition to a new gender identity, and integrating this new person into the school ecosystem, all without informing or receiving consent from (the child’s) parents.”
Regino indicated in the lawsuit brief that she is supportive of her child, but was greatly dismayed that “the Parental Secrecy Policy precludes parents from being a part of this significant and formative event” in her child’s life.
The lawsuit did not seek monetary damages, but rather sought to have the court issue a permanent injunction against what the lawsuit calls the CUSD’s “ongoing violations” of the U.S. Constitution.
However, Senior United States District Judge John A. Mendez of the Eastern District of California dismissed the lawsuit July 11. Staley had filed a motion to dismiss Regino’s complaint.
In conjunction with the lawsuit, Regino had asked the court to order an injunction to prevent district employees from socially transitioning students without obtaining informed consent from their parents. The court denied that motion March 9.
In the July 11 order, the court said CUSD demonstrated a legitimate state interest in creating a zone of protection for students that question their gender identity or are transgender from “adverse hostile reactions” like bullying or domestic abuse. The court affirmed the district’s policy aligned with the state interest to combat discrimination and harassment against students; and that the policy is not proactive, but reactive.
