School board president on being sued by California AG over parental rights policy: This will 'embolden' others

Chino Valley Unified School District Board President Sonja Shaw told Fox News Digital that more school boards in California will be "emboldened" to pass parental notification policies after they were hit with a lawsuit from the Golden State's attorney general.

"I think it's been made very clear that they will try to use their bullying tactics. And I don't think it's working anymore because you have him citing things in there that are not even law," Shaw said.  

"So he's trying to make new law without having it go through the proper process. So I think people see that now. I don't think that people are scared of that." 

CALIFORNIA AG TO SUE CHINO VALLEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT OVER PARENTAL NOTIFICATION POLICY

Chino Valley Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Norm Enfield, left, and President Sonja Shaw, right listen to a speaker during a board meeting at Don Lugo High School in Chino on Thursday night July 20, 2023. (Photo by Will Lester/MediaNews Group/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin via Getty Images) (Will Lester/MediaNews Group/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin via Getty Images)

California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Monday announced a lawsuit against the CVUSD Board of Education "to immediately halt the enforcement" of their mandatory gender identity disclosure policy. 

"Every student has the right to learn and thrive in a school environment that promotes safety, privacy, and inclusivity – regardless of their gender identity," Attorney General Bonta said.

The lawsuit argues that the parental notification policy violates California’s Equal Protection Clause and Education and Government Code and constitutional right to privacy.

CVUSD President Sonja Shaw told Fox News Digital that she is "not surprised by their aggressive stance."

"They are going to use any ploy and political bullying tactic that they can. This was the last thing, I think, in their chest before legislation ends here in a couple of weeks." 

3RD SCHOOL DISTRICT IN CENTRAL CALIFORNIA TO ALLOW PARENTS TO BE NOTIFIED IF CHILD IDENTIFIES AS TRANSGENDER

California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Monday announced a lawsuit against Chino Valley Unified School District [CVUSD] Board of Education’s (Board) "to immediately halt the enforcement" of their mandatory gender identity disclosure policy. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File) (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

She went on to say, "You saw Newsom a few weeks ago talking about how he was going to meet with legislators to come up with a possible law to prohibit districts from doing a parental notification policy. We all know with only two weeks left, it takes a little longer than that to propose a bill and get it passed." 

California's lawsuit came after other school districts in the Golden State Temecula Valley Unified School District (TVUSD) and Murrieta Valley Unified School District (MVUSD) joined CVUSD in passing parental notification policies. 

All three school districts prompted Bonta to denounce their actions. 

Shaw argued that Bonta is targeting districts that recently flipped to majority conservative, including MVUSD and Orange Unified School District, which she said is expected to vote on a parental notification policy next week.

CALIFORNIA SCHOOL BOARD VOTES TO ALLOW PARENTS TO BE NOTIFIED IF CHILD IDENTIFIES AS TRANSGENDER

"I mean, you have new school board members, parents like myself, soccer moms like myself sitting on boards or soccer dads. You have all these new parents and new grandma and grandpa on the boards that have a voice for the community and that threatens their exact agenda," Shaw said.

Shaw claimed that Bonta is not happy with the change in the type of representation on school boards.

"So they're trying to send the message back down that, hey, guys, this is what we'll do. This is what we'll say and this is what we'll use against you if you try to change anything that we have going here," she said.

The Murrieta Valley Unified School District (MVUSD) earlier this month passed the policy by a 3-2 vote after parents spoke in favor. 

Sonja Shaw speaks out about kicking a state superintendent out of her board of education meeting in California. (Fox News Digital)

The policy included a copy of CVUSD policy, which is similar in that it also requires staff to notify parents if their child is transgender.

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The State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond emailed a letter to the MVUSD board requesting them to reverse the policy. 

Bonta released a statement condemning all three school districts.

Earlier this month, Bonta announced opening a civil rights investigation into CVUSD for potential legal violations after they passed a policy requiring staff to notify parents of their child’s gender identity. 

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Joshua Q. Nelson is a reporter for Fox News Digital.

Joshua focuses on politics, education policy ranging from the local to the federal level, and the parental uprising in education.

Joining Fox News Digital in 2019, he previously graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in Political Science and is an alum of the National Journalism Center and the Heritage Foundation's Young Leaders Program. 

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