Parents, not government schools, have the primary responsibility and authority to direct the upbringing, care, and education of their children. But some public school districts have adopted policies that deliberately keep parents in the dark when their children seek to identify as a gender different from their biological sex.
In 2020, Pine-Richland School District in Pennsylvania adopted a policy governing how school personnel must respond to students who identify as transgender. The policy allows school employees to facilitate a child’s social transition at school (including using different names and pronouns, changing school records, and permitting access to facilities and sports teams based on a student’s asserted gender identity) without requiring parental knowledge or consent.
The policy also allows school personnel to form student support teams to develop transition plans for children, including elementary school students. Under the policy, school employees should withhold information about a student’s gender identity or transition from parents unless disclosure is legally required or authorized by the student.
These policies undermine the God-given responsibility of parents to protect their children and direct their upbringing. They also raise serious constitutional concerns by placing government officials between parents and their children on deeply personal matters involving sex, gender, and morality.
