N.J. school district agrees to drop transgender student privacy policy, settles federal suit
The School District of the Chathams has settled a federal lawsuit over its policy on transgender students and has agreed not to readopt it unless state or federal law requires it.
The Board of Education approved the settlement 7-0 on Oct. 12 as part of its consent agenda, according to minutes filed in court. Two of the board’s nine members were absent.
A stipulation filed Oct. 15 says the case is dismissed with prejudice, and each side will pay its own attorney fees and costs.
The district’s Policy 5145.7, adopted in January 2024, let students use a chosen name and pronouns at school and kept a student’s transgender status confidential.
Moms for Liberty sued in August, arguing the policy allowed staff to keep a student’s transition from parents.
The policy is no longer available online.
The agreement says the board did not readopt Policy 5145.7 on Sept. 14, when it replaced its entire policy manual with mandatory policies from a new provider. It will not readopt “this optional policy (or a derivative policy including 5756)” unless state or federal law mandates it on terms “compliant with United States Supreme Court precedent.”
The district also agreed to keep complying with state and federal law, including the NJ Law Against Discrimination and Supreme Court precedent on parents’ rights. All current and future district employees will receive a copy of the agreement.
The agreement does not require the advance parental notice and consent the lawsuit sought, address the district’s harassment, intimidation and bullying policy that the suit also challenged, or include an admission of wrongdoing.
The Thomas More Society, the conservative law firm that represented Moms for Liberty, announced the settlement Tuesday.
“No school has the authority to transition a child behind his or her parents’ backs,” Christopher Ferrara, the firm’s senior counsel, said in a statement.
Tina Descovich, CEO and co-founder of Moms for Liberty, said the parents behind the case “endured doxxing and harassment simply for asking their school district to respect their role as their children’s primary educators.” She said she hopes “school boards across the country take note.”
Superintendent Emily Sortino and Board President Ann Ciccarelli did not immediately respond to requests for comment from NJ.com.
The national parental rights group sued Aug. 25 in U.S. District Court in Newark on behalf of two anonymous members whose two young daughters attend elementary school in the Morris County district.
The complaint says the parents are practicing Christians and argues the policy interfered with their right to direct their children’s religious and moral upbringing. The complaint does not claim either girl is transgender or has asked to use a different name or pronouns.
The parents filed anonymously because of threats and harassment, including a police car posted outside their home, the complaint says.
The policy also allowed students to use facilities that matched their gender identity where feasible. Staff must offer a “reasonable alternative arrangement,” such as a single-stall restroom, to any student who wanted more privacy.
If a student’s parents weren’t aware of a request to be addressed differently, a school counselor would assess “whether, and to what extent, parents/guardians can be involved,” the policy said.
The complaint asked a judge to bar the district from enforcing the policy as written. It sought advance notice and an opt-out before any social transition, no discipline for students who decline to use a classmate’s chosen name or pronouns, and nominal damages and attorneys’ fees.
The complaint also says the policy wrongly told parents the state education commissioner “directs school districts to accept a student’s asserted gender identity regardless of parent consent or involvement.”
It says no such directive exists and cites a transcript from a separate case against Hanover Township schools in which an assistant attorney general agreed the state’s model policy is not one “every district is mandated to have.”
According to the complaint, Thomas More Society lawyers sent the district a May 26 letter demanding it rescind the policy and got no reply.
The district resisted the lawsuit before eventually agreeing to settle. At a June 15 board meeting, Board President Ann Ciccarelli said the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Mirabelli v. Bonta “is not binding on public school districts in New Jersey,” according to the complaint.
Several board members said in a Sept. 9 statement that “reasonable people may disagree about policy” but that any suggestion that schools hide things from parents “is false.”