California Bans School Districts from Requiring Staff to Disclose a Student's Gender Identity

Starting on January 1, 2025, California school districts will be barred from requiring school staff to disclose a student’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to another person, including their parent, without the child’s permission. 

On July 15, Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1955, known as the Support Academic Futures and Educators for Today’s Youth Act or SAFETY Act, into law. Backers say it will protect LGBTQ+ students who might fear their household would not support their identity. Opponents say the law would force schools to be less transparent with parents about what is happening with their children on campus.

The law comes after several school boards, including some in Orange County, passed parental notification policies sparking passionate debates and protests concerning the privacy rights of LGBTQ+ students and the rights of parents.

The SAFETY Act is already the subject of a lawsuit on behalf of the Chino Valley Unified School District, one of the first to enact a parental notification policy. One school board president said her district won't comply with the new law.

It’s not yet clear what will happen to the Orange Unified School District’s parental notification policy approved during a raucous school board meeting in September 2023. 

Passed by the conservative board majority at the time, the policy requires that parents of students under the age of 12 be notified if their child asks to be identified as a gender “other than the student’s biological sex or gender listed on the student's birth certificate or any other official records.”

If the student is older than 12, the school counselor must determine if disclosure of the child’s gender identity “is necessary to avert a clear and present danger to the health, safety, or welfare of the pupil, given the known heightened risk for trans-identifying an gender non-conforming youth of suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts.”

In a recent email to Spotlight Schools, OUSD Superintendent Ernie Gonzalez wrote: "At this time, we are reviewing current board policies and practices in accordance with AB 1955, and I will recommend to the Board of Education any necessary modifications to policies in order to be compliant with the law." 

He added that the district places “the highest priority on creating safe learning environments for our students” and “creating strong, productive partnerships with our families.”

When asked how many students were impacted by the OUSD policy, district spokeswoman Hana Brake wrote to Spotlight Schools: "To my knowledge, the district does not keep track of that type of student data."

Former OUSD trustee Madison Miner co-wrote the district's parental notification policy. She was recalled from her seat in March 2024. In a recent message to Spotlight Schools, Miner called the SAFETY Act an example of the government eroding the role parents have in making decisions for their families.

“As a former conservative board member who helped author and pass a parent notification policy to protect children, I am deeply concerned about the governor passing AB 1955. This reflects a government stance that undermines parental rights,” Miner wrote. She added: "Forcing teachers to lie to parents is wrong and extremely dangerous."

Miner also recommended that parents pull their children from public schools in response to the new law.

Asher Belshe, a transgender male and recent graduate of a high school in the Garden Grove Unified School District, had a different take on AB 1955. Belshe said it offers transgender students a sense of relief knowing that they can choose to keep their identity a secret.

“With AB 1955 being enacted it gives me a lot more hope. I see so much backlash to trans youth and I'm so relieved that we finally got something in our favor," Belshe wrote in an email to Spotlight Schools. He added, “Unless students are in danger or putting others at risk, it is [the school staff’s] job to provide a safe and confidential environment.”

Belshe also stated that the new law would protect kids, arguing the "outing of students could cause abuse, neglect, disowning, and in the worst cases, a loss of life."

In October 2023, the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District Board of Education passed a parental notification policy on a 3-2 vote. The policy does not specifically mention a student’s gender identity or sexual orientation but it does require the release of confidential information to a parent by a school counselor “when they have reasonable cause to believe that doing so will avert a clear and present danger to the health, safety or welfare” of a student.

During the discussion of the policy, board members and PYLUSD Superintendent Alex Cherniss, Ed.D., did mention instances of notifying parents about a student asking to transition genders, according to the Orange County Register.

In a more recent story from the newspaper, Dr. Cherniss was quoted as saying PYLUSD will not change its policy due to AB 1955.

“As usual, our district was incorrectly labeled and assigned to a specific political agenda which carries with it this ridiculous assumption that we require gender parental notification,” Dr. Cherniss was quoted as saying. “This couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Also in October 2023, the Capistrano Unified School District Board of Education rejected a parental notification policy that could have required school staff to notify parents about a student changing their gender identity.

Tyler Pearce, who was the CUSD's student board member at the time, could not vote on the proposal but did speak out against it. “I do believe that this is an outing policy,” said the then-San Clemente High School student, according to the O.C. Register.

According to a recent poll from the Public Policy Institute of California, residents in the state are divided about how public schools accommodate a student’s request to choose their pronouns. According to the survey, 48% of public school parents polled support schools allowing students to choose their pronouns while 51% of the parents polled oppose it.

There is also a clear split along party lines. According to the PPIC survey, 83% of Republicans polled were opposed to letting public school students choose their pronouns, while 70% of Democrats were supportive of it.

In addition to prohibiting school staff from disclosing a student's confidential information, the SAFETY Act also bans retaliation against a school employee "because the employee supported a pupil or pupils in exercising their legal rights to privacy, nondiscrimination, state-aligned instructional materials, and equal educational opportunity."

It also requires the California Department of Education develop "supports and resources" for schools serving students in grades 7 to 12. The resources for parents, guardians, and families of LGBTQ+ students could include support groups or affinity clubs, counseling, and the creation of "safe spaces."