It is Back to School time, and parents can prepare themselves for the new school year by becoming familiar with some key parental rights federal laws.

In response to the Montgomery County School system’s refusal to allow parents to opt out of elementary school transgender reading programs, parents requested copies of the public records of correspondence about the district’s banning the parental opt-out provision.

There is no longer a debate over whether the school systems in Maryland support ideology over parents and families. When MCPS decided to offer a transgender reading program to elementary school children this year, the program came with an opt-out option for parents. When an overwhelming majority of parents opted out, MCPS eliminated the opt-out option. Parents are suing.

FCPS is ignoring the facts and refusing to consider the substantial new information that indicates the current policies are out of date, including the fact that most of Europe, which has much more experience than the U.S. on this topic, is moving away from the exact type of approach FCPS continues to insist we use.

America’s largest teachers union, The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), “coached its members on how to inject gender identity politics into classroom teaching,” said the report published by the Defense of Freedom Institute on Wednesday, August 22nd.

When policy 443 went in, there were at least three policies and an FCPS regulation that ensured transgender and gender non-conforming students were protected from an unwelcoming environment. So why was 443 even installed? The history behind 443 and the push to expand an ideology explain not only why it’s in place but also why six of the seven BOE members refuse to discuss changes.

The finding provides a path to winning a similar case. Last Tuesday, August 15, the 4th Circuit Court in Richmond ruled that the case brought by three Montgomery County parents to force the school system to change their policy that precludes telling parents if their child chooses an alternative gender or determines they are transgender found for the schools. But it did not confirm that the policy is legal under the Constitution.

The coach is an adult biological male but identifies as a woman. The FCPS policy that allows the sharing of bathrooms, locker rooms/showers, overnight lodging, and changing areas by self-identified gender rather than biological sex is focused solely on students. In other words, there is no policy or plan for how to handle a transgender adult that wants to share these personal spaces with students.

The FCPS Board of Education has made arguments against parental notification that are based on their desire to ensure a child’s emotional and physical safety. They have stated that a child must have a safe space to be themselves, and notifying parents wouldn’t be in the best interest of that child’s mental, emotional, and physical well-being. They have provided a number of reasons to justify their decision, each of which we’ve disputed.

The FCPS policy that precludes Frederick County schools from notifying parents if their child chooses an alternative gender, name or identifies as transgender is not likely to change. So where do the individual board members stand on a parent’s right to know?