In an attempt to shift \u2064public opinion\u200b against the Chino Valley\u2064 Unified School District, which is currently embroiled in a fight with California Attorney General Rob Bonta\u200b over its new parental notification policy, The New York Times<\/a> published an article smearing the fight to protect parents\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n

The CVUSD policy, which passed in July<\/a> but is partially tied up in courts<\/a>, requires school staff<\/a> to notify parents if their child shows symptoms of gender dysphoria including switching to the pronouns, bathrooms, or sports teams of the opposite sex.<\/p>\n

The rule was designed to recognize parents, not the state or school districts, \u200das\u2063 having the final say over their children\u2019s well-being. The NYT\u2019s Jill Cowan, however, painted it as a partisan \u200cploy hatched by conservatives like freshman California assemblyman Bill Essayli.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Latest Target for California Conservatives? Local \u200cSchool Boards,\u201d the article headline reads.<\/p>\n

Cowan \u200cclaimed Golden State Republican lawmakers foiled by the assembly\u2019s Democrat supermajority fed their ideas into communities like Chino Valley because those residents have a better \u2064chance at unseating leftists on the local level than at the state level.<\/p>\n

In reality, parents in CVUSD have\u200b fought for years to fend off the ideological takeover of their children\u2019s schools. Their cause was helped significantly in recent years by \u200cconservative politicians\u2019 willingness \u200bto latch onto the national pro-parent movement sweeping the nation.<\/p>\n

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Cowan, however, insinuated that the parents and pro-parent politicians \u200btouting policies<\/a> that will protect children in districts all across California are meddling where they don\u2019t belong.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome parents insist that they have a right to know everything about\u200d their \u200dchild\u2019s school experience, from the materials being studied to the bathroom\u2063 being used,\u201d \u2063Cowan wrote. \u201cThey have been joined by political activists<\/a> and, in many instances, Mr. Essayli.\u201d<\/p>\n

Polling suggests that an overwhelming majority of California voters, 84 percent<\/a>, not \u200cjust \u201csome,\u201d support parental notification policies that would tell parents when a \u201cmajor change in a child\u2019s physical, mental, \u2064or emotional \u200chealth or academic performance\u201d is observed.<\/p>\n

Despite these poll numbers, \u2063NYT, with help from the testimony of opposition group leaders, suggested that the concerned CVUSD parents were the ones\u2064 provoking the district\u2019s latest controversy.<\/p>\n

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\u201cTo\u2063 Ms. Hirst, the fight over the\u200b notification policy has needlessly drawn the Chino Valley district into another culture war,\u201d Cowan wrote, referring to Kristi Hirst, who co-founded the \u200c leftist activist group<\/a> Our Schools USA with Christina Gagnier \u200caround the same time parents in the district voted Gagnier off\u200c of the school board.<\/p>\n

Cowan incorporated Hirst\u2019s accusation that parents\u2019 \u201conly focus is their political and religious \u2063issues\u201d into her\u200c writing, ominously noting that several proponents of the parental notification policy have \u2063\u201cclose ties to a local megachurch\u201d and a new school board member \u201cruns a local\u2062 Bible study group.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another 82 percent of California voters \u2063disagreed with the statement \u201cA person loses their parental rights when a child enters public school.\u201d Yet, elevating the\u200b concocted\u200c plight of \u201cstudents\u2019 civil rights\u201d<\/a> above the constitutionally protected rights of parents is exactly what Bonta and \u2064Gov. Gavin Newsom have\u200d advocated for since CVUSD passed \u2063the policy.<\/p>\n

California Superintendent\u2062 of\u2064 Public Instruction Tony Thurmond also came out of the woodwork to publicly oppose the parental notification policy at a \u200cJuly 20, 2023 CVUSD school board meeting. It was there that he was scolded<\/a> by the new school board president<\/a> for trying to \u200bexceed the 1-minute limit on those who signed up to give feedback.<\/p>\n

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With 83\u200d speakers for\u200c @ChinoValleyUSD<\/a>\u2019s parental notification policy, each speaker had one minute. State SPI @TonyThurmond<\/a> was the first speaker and was cut \u200coff after the one\u200b minute time limit. Afterwards this ensured. pic.twitter.com\/OnAPhy8D37<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Jonathan Zachreson (@JZachreson) July 21, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n