Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed a federal lawsuit against Jeffco Public Schools on behalf of three families Wednesday.
The lawsuit alleges that the school district violated the constitutional rights of parents Joe and Serena Wailes when it arranged for their 11-year-old daughter to share a bed with a transgender student during a trip out of state in June 2023. Since that incident, two other families have come forward with similar concerns.
In December 2023, Jeffco Public Schools sent ADF a letter that stated in part, "Jeffco Public Schools will not knowingly assign students of different birth sexes to share a bed, and it did not do so here." It also stated, "At no time prior to June 25, 2023, did either the supervising chaperones or the private tour operator (EF Tours) know that Jane Doe was transgender."
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JeffCo parents claim district's transgender policy violates parental rights
Despite the district's explanation, ADF claims the school district violated the law.
"Parents under the Constitution have the right to decide the upbringing, education, and healthcare of their children," said Mallory Sleight, an attorney for ADF. "This case implicates the education and the upbringing of children."
Sleight said the parents' religious beliefs were violated by the school's policy, as well.
"They cannot have their beliefs violated by the school district merely because they send their children to school," she said.
Read the full lawsuit below:
In a video posted to social media, Joe and Serena Wailes discussed the June 2023 incident and their feelings about the school district's roommate policy.
"It doesn't allow us parents to protect our kids and make decisions that are best for them," said Joe Wailes in the video. "This is something that adults are making the decisions on, but kids are suffering the repercussions of it.”
ADF presented what it considers a solution in the lawsuit.
"There would be a simple box on the forms that would say, 'Do you submit to this policy which rooms children by gender identity rather than sex?' And then parents can either check yes or no," said Sleight.
In a statement, Jeffco Public Schools said families "always have the ultimate choice whether their student participates in any unique programming that involves overnight accommodations."
Full statement:
"While we have not yet been served with the lawsuit, we have conducted a cursory review of what was filed with the court and we disagree with a number of claims made in it. We look forward to having an opportunity in court to share the true facts, including the reasonable accommodations we offer families and students. Families always have the ultimate choice whether their student participates in any unique programming that involves overnight accommodations. We take these issues seriously, and we follow all Colorado state laws when it comes to how we treat students, staff and families."
In the lawsuit, ADF demands that the district be required to "provide Parents Plaintiffs with notice ahead of a trip that their child could be roomed with a student of the opposite sex" and "honor a request by Parent Plaintiffs that their children not be placed in overnight accommodations with a person of the opposite sex, regardless of that person’s gender identity."
The district has three weeks to file a response.
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