School forced girl to sleep with male, allowed ‘nonbinary’ female to supervise boys' showers: lawsuit
Jefferson County Public Schools in Colorado allowed a "nonbinary" female to supervise boys' showers and forced a female student to share a bed with a male, violating parental rights over children's privacy and accommodation decisions on school trips, according to a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of parents.
The lawsuit accuses JCPS of not providing truthful information to parents concerning who will be supervising and sharing accommodations with their children on school-sponsored trips, the advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom, which filed the complaint on behalf of three families, said in a statement.
The policy at the center of the controversy directs that students be "assigned to share overnight accommodations with other students that share the student's gender identity" rather than according to their biological sex.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Official communications from JCPS state that "girls will be roomed together on one floor, and boys together on a different floor." However, the lawsuit states that JCPS has redefined "girl" and "boy" to align with a student's gender identity.
Kate Anderson, ADF senior counsel and director of the ADF Center for Parental Rights, underlined the importance of parental rights in directing the upbringing and education of their children.
"Parents, not the government, have the right and duty to direct the upbringing and education of their children, and that includes making informed decisions to protect their child's privacy," Anderson said.
The filing cites specific incidents that spurred the legal action.
For example, on a trip to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., the 11-year-old daughter of Joe and Serena Wailes was unexpectedly made to share a bed with a boy who identifies as a girl.
The Wailes family had not been informed of this arrangement in advance and had their requests for accommodations to opt out of such policies repeatedly denied by JCPS.
In another incident, Bret and Susanne Roller's 11-year-old son discovered that his high school counselor, tasked with supervising the boys' showers on a camping trip, was a "nonbinary" female, contrary to the prior information given by the district. The Rollers were also not provided with this information beforehand, which took place during their son's first time away from home.
Further concern arose with Rob and Jade Perlman, who worry about the sleeping arrangements for their children on school trips. Their son is set to attend JCPS's Outdoor Lab, and their daughter, an athlete, frequently travels for school sports. The Perlmans are apprehensive about the privacy and safety of their children due to the district's policy of rooming students based on gender identity.
The lawsuit contends that JCPS has failed to provide accommodations for students who are uncomfortable or whose religious beliefs are violated by the district's policies. Furthermore, the district's lack of transparency prevents parents from making informed decisions regarding their children's participation in school trips.
The lawsuit, Wailes v. Jefferson County Public Schools, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.
A spokesperson for the school district said in a statement provided to Crisis in the Classroom that it is "still determining facts" surrounding the claims made in the lawsuit, saying it was only "recently informed" of what occurred on the trips.
"However, it appears that the student's transgender status was not known when room assignments were made and our understanding is that as soon as their transgender identity was known, room assignments were adjusted," JCPS statement reads.
The school district added that its policies seek to reduce stigma for trans-identified and nonbinary students.
"The guidelines will support healthy communication between educators and parents/guardians to further the successful education development and well being of every student," the school district added.
In January, ADF sent a second letter to JCPS urging the district to allow parents to opt their children out of policies that assign rooming based on gender identity.
"The district has still failed to state whether parents, like our clients Joe and Serena Wailes, can opt their children out of any policy that rooms children by gender identity rather than sex," Anderson said at the time.
"Such an opt-out can be accomplished in a number of confidential ways to protect the privacy of all students. The Waileses' troubling experience is not isolated; we've spoken with other parents who've had similar incidents occur during the school district's required sixth-grade Outdoor Lab trips."
