We need to restore healthy policies in Natick Public Schools and reclaim the parent-child relationship that transcends the district's destructive parental exclusion policy. Despite DESE guidance, there is no Massachusetts law that requires NPS to hide students' gender identity from parents.
Moreover, if your child expresses words or actions during school that may be the first visible sign that your child is dealing with gender incongruity or possibly gender dysphoria, conditions that may (or may not) progress into significant, adverse, life-long social-emotional health consequences, why would administrators and teachers have any reason to hide this from you? Take a look at these questions from the NPS Gender Support Plan questionnaire:
As the author of A Vote for Parental Notification points out, "no one is more invested in the health and wellbeing of students than their parents...socially transitioning a child significantly increases the risk of unhealthy identity development and unnecessary medicalization down the road....No one opposes 'inclusion.' At issue is who or what is to be included, on what terms, at what cost, and why." The author also emphasizes that "the right thing to do is to recognize that fit parents, not teachers or school counselors, should be the ones to make such decisions."
Parental exclusion policies will eventually be struck down in the court of law
The Natick School Committee Policy Manual explicitly states that the School Committee commits to “promoting the rights and responsibilities of all individuals as set forth in the State and Federal Constitutions, pertinent legislation, and applicable judicial interpretations.”
We know the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees parents the fundamental right to direct the care and upbringing of their children. And, in a recent federal ruling against a large California school system, the judge delivered an important and likely precedent setting win for parents nationally:
Parental exclusion policies lose in the court of public opinion
According to a recent CRC Research poll:
71% of voters support legislation requiring schools to inform parents if their child wants to change their gender identity.
75% support requiring schools to get parental consent before helping a student change their gender identity.
78% of registered voters agree with the statement “A child changing his or her gender identity has major long-term medical and psychological ramifications. Parents should know, and have an opportunity to be involved in, such an important aspect of their child’s well-being.”
These results cross political, racial, and economic lines. Parental rights is a nonpartisan issue and protects all children and families from harmful school policies.
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