Rocklin Unified School District has recruited a nonprofit law firm to represent it in its ongoing legal fight with the state surrounding its policy that forces teachers and school staff to out transgender students to their parents.
Since the district trustees voted to implement a policy requiring school staff to inform a student’s parents if a student requests to go by a name or pronoun that is not aligned with their biological sex in Nov. 2023, the district has faced challenges from various state agencies, its teachers union and members of the public.
In response to a complaint filed by the Rocklin Teachers Professional Association, the California Public Employment Relations Board ruled in January that RUSD’s implementation of its forced outing policy constitutes an unfair labor practice because it asks school staff members to violate external law.
District trustees voted 4-1 Wednesday to enlist the pro bono legal services of the Chicago-based Liberty Justice Center, a nonprofit law firm that represents conservative institutions and causes, to appeal the PERB decision. Trustee Michelle Sutherland was the lone nay vote, as she was in the board’s original vote to institute the policy.
Sutherland spoke against the appeal prior to the vote, saying that the district’s fight to uphold the policy is fruitless as long as Assembly Bill 1955, which made forced outing policies like RUSD’s illegal, is in place.
“Right now we’re up here fighting teachers on a policy that has never seen the light of day in Rocklin Unified,” Sutherland said. “It just hurts me that the community is being dragged through this divisiveness once again when there are options available that we could discuss.”
The law firm is also representing the district in its ongoing legal battle with the California Department of Education, which filed a writ of mandate against the district in April requiring that RUSD revoke the policy. The proceedings are ongoing with the next hearing scheduled for May 28.
Teachers union President Travis Mougette addressed RUSD Trustees at Wednesday’s meeting, challenging their choice to pursue an appeal over allocating resources to classrooms.
Mougette ran through a number of issues facing district schools — including aging facilities, the rising cost of benefits for staff and growing class sizes — and questioned why board members were willing to risk potential penalty costs should they lose the appeal.
“If it’s okay for Rocklin Unified to gamble with district resources for political culture wars, why don’t we gamble and then double down on a guaranteed win and actually invest in our students and the resources that support them better than they can in the courtroom,” Mougette said.
In response, Superintendent Roger Stock said that it is rare for cases between public agencies to result in an attempt to recover attorney fees and that he expects the cost to litigate the matter to be under $10,000.
“To me, one dollar not going to a class when it could is enough to be discussing,” Mougette said.
Trustee Tiffany Saathoff said that it is the board’s business to protect “parents’ constitutional rights.”
“I do not consider a parent’s constitutional right to be a personal culture war or anything to do with politics,” Saathoff said.
This story was originally published March 6, 2025 at 3:09 PM.
916-321-1068
Jennah Pendleton is The Sacramento Bee’s education reporter. She previously covered schools and culture in the San Francisco Bay Area. She grew up in Orange County and is a graduate of the University of Oregon.