Chino school board’s decision is dangerous

Onthe heels of the attempt by the conservative Temecula school board in Southern California (https://www.ebar.com/story. php?ch=news&sc=news&id=327034) to ban textbooks, the equally right-wing Chino Valley Unified School District board in San Bernardino County has adopted a policy that is dangerous. It will forcibly out transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming students to their parents without the student’s consent. At a contentious meeting July 20, the board had elected state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond ejected from the meeting after he attempted to return to the podium to respond to comments by school board President Sonja Shaw, who accused him of “proposing things that pervert children.”

Thurmond, who recently announced that he’s exploring a run for governor in 2026, wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “I don’t mind being thrown out of a board meeting by extremists. I can take the heat – it’s part of the job. What I can’t accept is the mistreatment of vulnerable students whose privacy is being taken away.”

In a fundraising letter to supporters, Thurmond added, “In all my years as an education leader, I’ve never seen behavior like what was displayed by the Chino Valley Unified school board president this past week.”

The school board’s new policy is chilling. It will impact trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming students who may not be ready to come out to their parents or who may face real harm if they do. By requiring school officials to forcibly out these students to their parents without their consent, the Chino school board has sacrificed learning for pandering to social conservatives, just like all the Republican lawmakers in red states who have voted for bans on gender-affirming care for trans youth – and the governors who have signed that legislation. State Attorney General Rob Bonta sent an urgent letter to the school board and the district superintendent ahead of the vote, urging them to safeguard students’ rights to privacy and promising to take appropriate action to protect students’ civil rights.

“The protection of every student’s privacy and safety is of utmost importance, and that includes protecting their right to choose when, how, and with whom they share their gender identity. That is a personal decision for them, and them alone,” Bonta stated in a news release.

Equality California, the statewide LGBTQ rights group, was also alarmed by the school board’s decision. It, too, had staff removed from the meeting, according to a news release.

“With LGBTQ+ youth around the country under attack, the school board put their most