NJ school district sued over policy that can keep kids’ gender transitions secret from parents

BS BULLETIN:

Moms for Liberty and several parents are suing the School District of the Chathams in New Jersey over a policy governing transgender and gender-nonconforming students.
The policy allows students to use asserted names and gender identities at school and says a counselor may determine “whether, and to what extent” parents should be involved.
The lawsuit alleges violations of parents’ First and Fourteenth Amendment rights, while the district says it is following New Jersey guidance.

A New Jersey school district is headed to federal court over a policy that critics say can leave parents in the dark when their children adopt a different gender identity at school.

Moms for Liberty and several parents filed suit against the School District of the Chathams, challenging Policy 5145.7, which addresses transgender and gender-nonconforming students. The policy allows students to use names and pronouns consistent with their asserted gender identity and provides access to facilities based on that identity.

But the provision drawing the most scrutiny concerns parents.

Under the district policy, a school counselor may determine “whether, and to what extent” a student’s parents or guardians should be involved in discussions surrounding the student’s gender identity. The plaintiffs argue that this gives school officials the power to conceal significant information about a child from his or her parents.

Parents, not school boards, are the primary educators and caregivers of their children.

Last week, Thomas More Society filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Moms for Liberty (@Moms4Liberty) against the School District of the Chathams Board of Education, challenging a district… pic.twitter.com/YzZmXAuJqU

— Thomas More Society (@ThomasMoreSoc) August 31, 2026

The lawsuit, filed Aug. 24 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, alleges violations of the First Amendment’s free-speech and free-exercise protections as well as parents’ due-process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. The parents are also challenging provisions involving names and pronouns, arguing that the district cannot compel speech that conflicts with their religious beliefs.

The dispute arrives as courts across the country wrestle with similar policies.

In the California case Mirabelli v. Olson, the Supreme Court earlier this year vacated a Ninth Circuit stay that had blocked an injunction protecting parent plaintiffs while their challenge continues. That action was significant, but it was not a final nationwide Supreme Court ruling invalidating every school gender-identity policy.

Thank you, @ACPeds! https://t.co/QE5jKZFyPr

— Thomas More Society (@ThomasMoreSoc) September 3, 2026

The underlying court found that the parent plaintiffs were likely to succeed on claims involving religious exercise and parental due-process rights.

Chathams Board of Education President Ann Ciccarelli addressed the issue in June, saying the Mirabelli ruling “is not binding on public school districts in New Jersey.” She said the district continues to follow guidance issued by the New Jersey Department of Education.

The case now puts a question increasingly confronting school systems directly before a federal judge: When a child changes gender identity at school, who gets to decide whether the parents know?