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The Marlboro Board of Education on Tuesday adopted a policy of parental notification regarding transgender students.

Posted Thu, Jun 22, 2023 at 11:41 am ET|

The same action is being taken against the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional Board of Education that adopted a similar policy, also on Tuesday.

Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced Thursday the filing of Division on Civil Rights complaints challenging what it termed "unlawful policies" enacted this week by the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional, Marlboro and Middletown Boards of Education.

Find out what's happening in Marlboro-Coltsneckwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The policy enacted by the Marlboro Board of Education provides that the school district is required to notify parents or guardians of any student’s “change in gender identity or expression.”

It also eliminates the requirement under prior Marlboro policy that the school address students by their preferred name and pronoun; the new policy now permits the district to deviate from a student’s preferred name and pronoun when “a parent/guardian of a minor student disagrees with the student regarding the name and/or pronoun to be used at school.”

The new policy eliminates the requirement under prior Marlboro policy that all students are entitled to access school facilities in accordance with their gender identity, the state says.

Platkin and the Division of Civil Rights have also filed emergency motions in Superior Court, requesting preliminary injunctions and temporary restraints to prevent all three of the policies from going into effect while DCR’s challenges to the policies remain pending.

The meeting Tuesday was attended by many people opposed to the policy but also had supporters of the parental notification policy. You can read about the meeting - and the Manalapan-Englishtown board meeting - here. There are links in the story to the full policy.

The state action alleges that all three of the policies violate the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination’s prohibition against discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression.

As the complaints assert, the policies enacted by the Middletown, Marlboro, and Manalapan-Englishtown Boards "expressly target transgender, gender non-conforming, and gender non-binary students by singling them out for differential treatment, requiring parental notification for those students but not their peers," the Attorney General's office says.

The complaints also assert that the parental notification policies have "disparate impacts on transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary youth."

"By imposing a requirement that school staff must 'out' these students to their parents, the policies expose these students to the potential for severe harms to their safety and mental health. The policies also disregard and contradict guidance from the New Jersey Department of Education concerning the confidentiality and privacy of such information," the office says.

“In New Jersey, we will not tolerate any action by schools that threatens the health and safety of our young people. Without question, the discriminatory policies passed by these Boards of Education, if allowed to go into effect, will harm our kids and pose severe risk to their safety,” said Platkin. “Simply put, these policies violate our laws, and we will not relent in protecting our LGBTQ+ community—especially our children—from discrimination.”

In addition to filing administrative civil rights complaints, the state is seeking temporary restraints and preliminary injunctions from the Superior Court to prohibit the Boards from implementing the policies while the administrative complaints are pending.

The requested injunctions from the court would preserve the status quo during the litigation and thereby ensure that school officials are not forced to “out” transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary students to their parents while the administrative complaints are pending, the state says.

The requested injunctions would not prevent school staff from notifying parents about concerns unrelated to Law Against Discrimination-protected characteristics, nor would they prevent school staff from complying with Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying (HIB) policies, or other similar reporting requirements designed to protect students’ safety.

“School policies that single out or target LGBTQ+ youth fly in the face of our State’s longstanding commitment to equality,” said Sundeep Iyer, Director of the Division on Civil Rights. “Our laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression, plain and simple, and we will not waver in our commitment to enforcing those protections.”

The policies challenged today were all enacted on Tuesday, June 20.

In the policy enacted by the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional Board of Education, when a student “requests a public social transition accommodation,” the school must “notify a student’s parents or guardian of the student’s asserted gender identity.” It also states that for “students in grades Pre-K through 5,” the “responsibility for determining a student’s gender identity rests with the student’s parents/guardians,” rather than with the student.

The policy enacted by the Middletown Board of Education provides that where a student “requests a public social transition accommodation,” such as a name or pronoun change, a bathroom or locker room accommodation, or club or sports accommodation, the school is obligated to “notify a student’s parents or guardian” of the student’s “asserted gender identity.”

The transgender policies of the three Monmouth County school districts directly defies the NJ Department of Education's own policy on transgender students, which says parents do not have to be informed of what their child does in school regarding gender.

The enforcement actions announced today follows a civil rights complaint and application for temporary restraints filed by Attorney General Platkin and DCR challenging a Hanover Township Board of Education policy that likewise required school staff to out LGBTQ+ students to their parents. The litigation challenging that policy remains pending. The Superior Court, however, has temporarily restrained the Hanover Township Board of Education and the school district from enforcing that policy while it considers the matter.

the Division of Civil Rights is the state agency responsible for preventing and eliminating discrimination and bias-based harassment in employment, housing, and places of public accommodation (e.g., places open to the public like schools, businesses, hospitals, etc.).

Local Editor Carly Baldwin contributed to this report.

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Adversity struck again.

And just like it did multiple times during regular season, Marlboro found a way to overcome the odds and win a football game.

Complete Box Score »

“It’s a testament to the program, a testament to how far we’ve come and a testament to the coaching staff,” coach Jason Dagato said after his fourth-seeded Mustangs rallied to defeat fifth-seed Washington Township 21-17 in the first round of the NJSIAA/Rothman Orthopaedics South Jersey Group 5 playoffs Saturday.

“When these things keep happening, we understand it’s part of football. We don’t blink, we don’t get upset, we don’t complain about it. We just keep moving forward. We keep throwing haymakers. We keep fighting. They just keep finding a way to get that victory.”

Marlboro (6-3) overcame the loss of starting running back Matt Cassidy late in the first quarter to an elbow injury to win its first postseason game since 1994. The Mustangs rallied in the fourth, collecting a pair of touchdowns to erase a 17-7 deficit.

Alex Frank hit Ryan Mendes down the sideline on a double-pass for the game-winning 52-yard touchdown with 6:25 to play. Washington Township (5-5) had three chances to potentially go back ahead but turned the ball over each time with interceptions.

“I thought ‘This could be our last game of the year. If we were going to do it, let’s do it.’ We called it and it was a gutsy call. It worked just like it did in practice,” Dagato said of the trick play.

“We’ve been holding on to it for weeks. It works in practice every time, I just haven’t had the courage to call it.”

No one was in the vicinity of Mendes.

“Once I caught it, I knew I was gone. It felt great to walk into the end zone,” said Mendes, who finished with three catches for 60 yards. “With no one around me, I knew we had a touchdown if he threw me a good ball.

“It feels amazing. I knew this was going to be my last game on this field. I didn’t want to come out of here heartbroken. This win shows who we are. We’re never going to go down without a fight - ever.”

Overall, Marlboro picked off five passes - all in the second half. Nick Scaff and Jake Houston had two apiece, while Anthony Tropeano sealed it with the final interception. Scaff and Mendes also recorded sacks.

“Our defense has been stepping up,” Scaff said. “People write us off, but we’re never down. We have heart, we’re not losing.

“We weren’t panicking at halftime. We knew what we had to do to come back and executed. Everyone has trust in everyone.”

Said Cassidy, who capped the opening series of the game with a 17-yard TD run: “We’ve believed all season that we have one of the best defenses in the entire Shore (Conference), and now possibly the state. We fly around, love to hit, we get turnovers.

“The steps that we’ve taken to get to this point have been insane.”

Marlboro will face top-seeded Toms River North, No. 6 in the NJ.com Top 20, in a sectional semifinal next weekend. TRN defeated Old Bridge 49-7 in another opening-round game Friday.

For Washington Township, a team that scored 17 unanswered points and took some serious momentum into the locker room at halftime, the loss will sting for some time. The Minutemen came into the day with wins in four of their last five games. Jared Dzierzgowski scored on a 99-yard TD run - tying the state record for a rushing score - and also connected with Jason DiBlasio on an 11-yard TD pass with six seconds left in the half.

The Minutemen limited Marlboro to 153 yards of total offense, just 50 on the 27 rushing attempts.

“The biggest thing for us is that we’re trying to take that next step as a program,” coach Mike Schatzman said. “A lot of people on the outside want to see that playoff success, and we haven’t had it.

“Today wasn’t our day. We made too many mistakes. I don’t think there was anything they did that beat us. We beat ourselves, we beat ourselves five times this year. Our five losses were all kind of self-inflicted.”

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.

Alpha Fit Club offers a unique group fitness experience, and it’s quite different from your average gym. The fitness club has grown quickly over the past year with 25 locations set to open, one of the newest being in Marlboro, New Jersey.

Today and tomorrow are the last days of the Marlboro location’s VIP classes which are circuit-style strength and conditioning group fitness classes. This week, the classes are offered for free to anyone in the community who is intrigued and looking to break a sweat. Everyone’s first class and workout will be free, so bring a friend!

This Saturday, the 14th, is the grand opening day for Alpha Fit Club of Marlboro, meaning that all of your fitness needs will be addressed going forward after Saturday – but you can head to the Marlboro location in Marlboro Diamond Plaza on Route 9 today to check it out and have a look around.

What sets Alpha Fit Club apart from other gyms is the sense of community. Most franchise gyms have a very basic agenda: work out and go home. Then, other private and independent fitness locations are isolated to one place. Alpha Fit Club opened its first location just three years ago in the hometown of its founder, Sam Tooley, in Westfield NJ.

Working out in groups uses momentum and energy to keep people motivated and on track to their fitness goals. While exercise classes aren’t new, building a franchise of gyms focusing on group exercises that simultaneously support a community AND individual fitness goals, that’s kind of cool. The goal of Alpha Fit Club: “Be better than you were yesterday.”

Classes are focused on both strength training and cardio. Four-week training cycles motivate people while addressing a person’s capacity for pushing themselves, tenacity to work harder, and overall intensity. The training cycles conclude with remix workouts which are a blend of each modality. Alpha Fit Club keeps it fresh, fun, and new for members to push themselves each week.

Another thing that is very different about Alpha Fit Club is the emphasis on both muscular strength and mental strength. Motivation is key in any workout, but giving people the push and support they need to overcome the obstacles that would otherwise hinder their fitness goals is giving a revolutionary new perspective to living a healthy lifestyle and staying fit.

Alpha members, known as members of the pack, are built, not born. The leader of the pack, founder Sam Tooley, knows that very well. Tooley is an athlete, coach, gym owner, and entrepreneur who puts Alpha Fit Club, and the community he and his team are building, at the forefront of fitness for the upcoming year – and beyond.

Alpha Fit Club Marlboro franchisees Corey Francisco and Christian Chamberlain are excited to bring the latest and greatest fitness concept to the area. General Manager Brittney Francisco is ready for “the pack” in Marlboro as Corey and Christian's vision promotes a strong sense of community and positivity in the Marlboro neighborhood.

Address:

Alpha Fit Club Marlboro

167 Route 9 South, Marlboro NJ

Website: https://alphafitclub.com/locations/marlboro/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alphafitclub.marlboro/?igshid=MDM4ZDc5MmU%3D

Call/Text: 7326552210

CNN —

Just days after three New Jersey public school systems simultaneously enacted policies requiring educators to notify parents of changes in their children’s gender identity, the state is pursuing legal action.

New Jersey State Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced the complaints against the Middletown Township, Marlboro Township and Manalapan-Englishtown Regional boards of education, all in Monmouth County.

In a series of complaints filed in a New Jersey Superior Court, the state alleges policies requiring staff to notify parents when students express desire to change names, pronouns or bathroom and/or locker accommodations “target transgender, gender non-conforming, and gender non-binary students by singling them out for differential treatment, requiring parental notification for those students but not their peers.”

In separate companion legal briefs, Platkin also petitions the court to temporarily halt the policy changes from taking effect while legal challenges play out.

“In New Jersey, we will not tolerate any action by schools that threatens the health and safety of our young people. Without question, the discriminatory policies passed by these Boards of Education, if allowed to go into effect, will harm our kids and pose severe risk to their safety,” said Attorney General Platkin in a statement. “Simply put, these policies violate our laws, and we will not relent in protecting our LGBTQ+ community – especially our children – from discrimination.”

When contacted by phone on Friday, a representative of the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District declined to comment on the matter.

CNN has reached out to the Middletown Township Public School District.

Marc H. Zitomer, who represents the Marlboro Townhip Board of Education, told CNN he disagrees with the attorney general’s argument that schools are discriminating against LQBTQ+ students.

“We also have an exception in our policy if such notification would endanger the health or safety of the child,” Zitomer says.

“However, it is our position that keeping parents in the dark about important issues involving their children is counterintuitive and contrary to well established Supreme Court case law that says that parents have a constitutional right to direct and control the upbringing of their children,” adds Zitomer.

During a Tuesday school board meeting, Valentina Mendez, who chairs Marlboro Township School’s policy committee, defended the changes as taking a “family-centered approach.”

“Because Marlboro Public School District is a PreK-8 District with no high school,” said Mendez, “the board believes that greater parental involvement is important and required because of the age and maturity of the student body.”

During public remarks, a member who identifies as part of Marlboro’s LGBTQ+ community expressed concern that children will feel forced to out themselves before they are ready and erode the confidence they have in their teachers.

“Students have very delicate relationships with their teachers now more than ever before,” said the community member. “My teachers are in this room. I trusted them with my life. We’re going to break that trust. We’re going to shatter that trust.”

Other Marlboro community members expressed support for the changes, saying they are “practical” and will strengthen trust between teachers, students, and their parents.

In May, state officials also filed a civil rights complaint after similar changes were enacted at the Hanover Township Board of Education.

The litigation challenging that policy remains pending. A Superior Court, however, issued a temporary restraining order barring that board of education from enforcing that policy while it considers the matter.