The Temecula Valley Unified School District, at the center of controversy over its critical race theory ban and transgender policy, is facing a legal challenge from a coalition of parents, students, teachers, and a union.
The non-profit civil rights law firm Public Counsel and the law firm Ballard Spahr first filed the lawsuit on behalf of the plaintiffs in August, alleging that the Temecula school board’s policies violate students' rights under the state’s constitution, which declares education is a “ fundamental right” and protects students from racial discrimination.
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On Thursday, the lawyers filed a motion seeking a court order from a judge to bar the board’s “policies that censor state-mandated curriculum,” according to a press release from Public Counsel.
“As a result of the Board’s censorship, Temecula students are being miseducated and left behind the rest of the State. Unless stopped, the Board’s actions will place these students at a permanent disadvantage in preparing for college, careers, and participation in a diverse democracy,” said Amanda Mangaser Savage, supervising senior staff attorney for Public Counsel.
Savage, who works with the group Opportunity Under Law, said the “stakes could not be higher” in the first-of-its-kind case, as the lawsuit is one of the first major legal challenges to California's curriculum to be heard. The plaintiff’s initial hearing is scheduled for January 2024.
In August, the Temecula school board passed a policy that requires parents to be notified if their child openly identifies as transgender. The parental notification policy is activated if a child requests to identify with a gender different than what is on their birth certificate or asks to use a different bathroom. Staff must tell parents in writing within three days if a student falls under either of those categories.
California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta is investigating similar policies for potential civil rights violations. The Chino Valley Unified Board voted to pass a transgender notification policy in July.
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In December 2022, Temecula’s conservative-led board passed a resolution banning critical race theory “or similar frameworks” from being taught in classrooms.
“A transgender child cannot be un-outed to their parents. Students of color will receive only censored instruction on discrimination. And students of every background will leave Temecula schools without the knowledge of U.S. history and society shared by their peers elsewhere in the state,” Elizabeth Schilken, an attorney in the Litigation Department of Ballard Spahr, said. “This kind of damage cannot be undone.”