ADF sues Colorado school district for undermining parental rights

CV NEWS FEED // Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorneys have filed a federal lawsuit against Jefferson County Public Schools (JeffCo) on behalf of three Colorado families, accusing the district of undermining parental rights.

According to a September 5 press release from ADF, JeffCo told parents that girls and boys will be roomed separately on school trips, but it failed to inform parents of their policy of assigning students to their accommodations based on “gender identity” rather than biological sex.

“JeffCo refuses to give parents truthful, pertinent information about their children’s overnight accommodations, thus hampering parents’ ability to make informed decisions about their children’s education and privacy,” the press release states.

The ADF reported that one of the families, the Wailes, involved discovered the issue when their 11-year-old daughter was assigned to share a bed with a boy “identifying” as a girl during a school trip to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., despite being told initially that their daughter would be rooming with girls only.

Another family, the Rollers, sent their 11-year-old son on a sixth-grade camping trip, believing he would be supervised by a male counselor. Instead, the boy discovered that his 18-year-old counselor identified as “non-binary” and was actually female. The counselor was responsible for supervising the boys’ showers.

The ADF report shared that despite these concerns, JeffCo has stated that it will continue to base room assignments on “gender identity.” Additionally, JeffCo will not provide separate accommodations for students who are made uncomfortable by these rules, even if it violates their religious beliefs against staying in close quarters with members of the opposite sex.

ADF Senior Counsel Kate Anderson, director of the ADF Center for Parental Rights explained in the news release that if Jefferson County Public Schools plans to keep assigning students of different sexes to share rooms on overnight trips, then the district needs to clearly inform parents about this policy, enabling them to make well-informed decisions for 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,” said Anderson, adding, “The district must grant our clients’ reasonable request for accommodations that can be accomplished in a number of confidential ways that protect the privacy of all students.”