Supreme Court order puts California schools in legal limbo over transgender student privacy – Daily Democrat
Publish Date: 2026-03-07 11:31:00
Source Domain: www.dailydemocrat.com
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision this week to reinstate parents’ right to be notified of their child’s gender identity has left California schools in temporary legal limbo and advocates concerned for the safety of transgender students.
In a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court granted an emergency appeal to a conservative legal group and reinstated a San Diego federal judge’s ruling that parents have a constitutional right to be informed of a child’s “gender incongruence” at school. The Supreme Court stated that California’s student privacy policies allow schools to “facilitate” a student’s gender transition without parental notification, violating free religious expression and substantive due process.
“The Supreme Court’s reaffirmation that parents — not the government — hold primary authority over their children’s upbringing and mental health decisions sets a national precedent,” Paul M. Jonna, plaintiff attorney at the Thomas More Society, told EdSource. “States with similar secrecy regimes are now on notice.”
Justices did not decide the Mirabelli v. Bonta case; instead, they vacated a stay issued by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, reinstating a previous ruling until a final decision is made in the appeals court. Two former teachers from the Escondido Unified School District, later joined by parents, had sued against a now-withdrawn district policy prohibiting school employees from notifying parents about a child’s gender identity.
In the meantime, California school districts are caught between legal compliance with the federal ruling and state law. Schools must now discern their own procedures and parameters of disclosure while complying with California’s SAFETY Act, a 2024 law that prohibits schools from requiring teachers to out students.
Jorge Reyes Salinas, a spokesperson for LGBTQ advocacy group Equality California, said school administrators will be forced to make case-by-case decisions under potential legal…
