Home Care In Rocklin, CA

SACRAMENTO — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued a statement following the Rocklin Unified School District School Board’s (Board) decision to implement a mandatory gender identity disclosure policy targeting transgender and gender-nonconforming students on September 6, 2023. Similar to other forced outing policies recently enacted by certain school districts, the policy requires schools to inform parents, with minimal exceptions, whenever a student requests to use a name or pronoun different from that on their birth certificate or official records, even without the student’s permission. The policy also requires notification if a student requests to use facilities or participates in programs that don't align with their sex on official records. The vote comes after Attorney General Rob Bonta sent a letter to the Board cautioning them of the dangers of adopting its forced outing policy, emphasizing the potential infringements on students' civil rights and educational opportunities.

“Despite our ongoing commitment to stand against any actions that target and discriminate against California’s transgender and gender-nonconforming youth, Rocklin Unified has chosen to endanger their civil rights by adopting a policy that forcibly outs them without consideration of their safety and well-being,” said Attorney General Bonta. “I have said it before and I will say it again: We will not tolerate any policy that perpetuates discrimination, harassment, or exclusion within our educational institutions.”

The Attorney General has a substantial interest in protecting the legal rights, physical safety, and mental health of children in California schools, and in protecting them from trauma, harassment, bullying, and exposure to violence and threats of violence. Research shows that protecting a transgender student’s ability to make choices about how and when to inform others is critical to their well-being, as transgender students are exposed to high levels of harassment and mistreatment at school and in their communities when those environments are not supportive of their gender identity.

Attorney General Bonta is committed to defending the rights and safety of LGBTQ+ youth. Yesterday, Attorney General Bonta issued a statement commending the San Bernardino Superior Court’s ruling to issue a temporary restraining order against Chino Valley Unified School District Board of Education’s (CVUSD) mandatory gender identity disclosure policy, immediately halting its enforcement. Just last week, Attorney General Bonta announced a lawsuit challenging the enforcement of CVUSD’s forced outing policy. Prior to filing a lawsuit, Attorney General Bonta announced opening a civil rights investigation into the legality of CVUSD’s adoption of its mandatory gender identity disclosure policy. Prior to opening the investigation, Attorney General Bonta in July sent a letter to Superintendent Norman Enfield and the Board of Education cautioning them of the dangers of adopting its forced outing policy, emphasizing the potential infringements on students' privacy rights and educational opportunities. Recently, Attorney General Bonta issued a statement following Anderson Union High School District, and Temecula Valley and Murrieta Valley Unified School District Boards’ decisions to implement copy-cat mandatory gender identity disclosure policy targeting transgender and gender-nonconforming students.

Transitional kindergartens are gaining steam across the state, and one district in the capital region is among those leading the shift.

Rocklin Unified School District is one of a handful of school districts in California now offering a full-day program for 4-year-olds. And enrollment is right around the corner.

Publicly funded transitional kindergarten is growing across California. In 2021, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 130, a $2.7 billion initiative to expand transitional kindergarten, also known as pre-kindergarten, to all 4-year-olds.

Transitional kindergarten is intended to provide a pre-kindergarten experience for California 4-year-olds that “blends social and emotional experience with academic learning,” according to a fact sheet from policy advocates Early Edge California.

Although some of the state’s largest districts already offer expanded transitional kindergarten, experts say making a year of pre-kindergarten available to all is a watershed achievement in early education.

“After lagging behind other states, California suddenly leads the nation in expanding quality preschool,” said Bruce Fuller, professor of education and public policy at UC Berkeley.

The state is phasing in the program, with tens of thousands of California 4-year-olds set to attend class in the fall. It is expected to be fully operational by fall 2025, with every California 4-year-old eligible.

California, which has almost 3 million children under the age of 5, has trailed behind other states in terms of access to early education, with only 37% enrolled in transitional kindergarten and the state’s subsidized preschool program.

“It took 20-plus years and countless others pushing hard, and I’m beyond thrilled that California will now offer universal pre-K for all 4-year-olds via our transitional kindergarten program,” said Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, a longtime champion of TK. “This action will change the trajectories for our youth for generations to come.”

In Rocklin, transitional kindergarten has been in place for at least the last eight years and has grown to all 14 elementary campuses, said Bill MacDonald, associate superintendent of elementary education.

At present, the state only requires a three-hour program, but Rocklin Unified offers a five-and-a-half-hour program at its campuses.

“We realized early on it’s a benefit of students and parents to have a full instructional day,” he said. “For students, if the program structure is right, it gives the teacher many more opportunities to expose the students to learning and play activities.”

Knowing that these are the state’s youngest students, MacDonald said classes start slowly to help acclimate new pupils to a school schedule. Classes are shortened for the first six weeks and then extend to the full five-and-a-half-hour school day.

“It’s very play-based,” MacDonald said. “We take into account that they’re very little so the activities focus on building things, exploring, singing, dancing. It’s much more than you might think of school learning for these youngsters.”

Enrollment for the 2024-2025 school year opens Jan. 22. It’s open to families within the district who have a child turning five between Sept. 2, 2024, and June 2, 2025.

The average class size in the Placer County district TK classes is about 20 students, MacDonald said, and every class has a teacher and aide.

Parents of prospective TK and incoming kindergarten students can RSVP for an in-person session about the program Jan. 24 at one of the district’s campuses on the district’s website.

Karen D’Souza of EdSource, a nonprofit news collaborative on education in California, contributed to this story.

This story was originally published December 21, 2023, 12:52 PM.

ROCKLIN, Calif. —

School board members of the Rocklin Unified School District approved a policy change that will require teachers and staff to notify parents if their student wants to change how they're identified.

The Wednesday meeting, which started around 6:30 p.m., drew hundreds either in support or against that policy change. The policy states that teachers and staff would be required to notify parents if their child wants to be identified as a gender other than the biological sex.

Parents against the policy worry the change would lead to the forced outing of children who were not ready or did not feel safe to share their gender identity with their families. Some of those in support of the change shared they feel the withholding of that information would lead to a lack of trust between students, school staff and families.

More people against the policy than those in favor spoke out during the public comment.

Board members voted 4-1 to approve the policy just before 12:40 a.m. Thursday. Board trustees Julie Hupp, Tiffany Saathoff, Rachelle Price and Dereck Counter voted in favor of the policy amendment. Michelle Sutherland was the lone member to vote against it.

Under the policy, parents and guardians are to be notified within three school days when their child requests the following:

Recommended

'An egregious error': Sacramento radio host Rob Williams speaks out after DUI arrest

Notification can be delayed up to 48 hours to fulfill mandated reporter requirements if a staff member, in conjunction with the site administrator, has credible evidence that notification could result in "substantial jeopardy" to the child's safety.

Earlier Wednesday, a judge ordered a temporary stop on a similar policy in the Chino Valley Unified School District in Southern California.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta condemned the vote in Rocklin in a statement Thursday, saying he had sent a letter to the board in opposition to what he called a "forced outing policy."

“Despite our ongoing commitment to stand against any actions that target and discriminate against California’s transgender and gender-nonconforming youth, Rocklin Unified has chosen to endanger their civil rights by adopting a policy that forcibly outs them without consideration of their safety and well-being,” Bonta said. “I have said it before and I will say it again: We will not tolerate any policy that perpetuates discrimination, harassment, or exclusion within our educational institutions.”

The statement noted a 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey where 10% of respondents said and immediate family member was violent to them because they were transgender, and fewer than 1 in 3 transgender and gender nonbinary youth found their home to be gender-affirming.

--KCRA 3's Daniel Macht contributed to this story.

ROCKLIN, Calif. — The Rocklin Unified School District took action on a controversial gender policy, approving the policy 4-1.

The policy would require teachers to notify parents when a student asks to identify as a different gender. However, some parents and teachers are concerned it violates student rights.

A marathon of public comments from teachers, students and parents started around 7 p.m. and continued for hours. At times, tensions flared.

Supporters said it’s about making sure parents are involved.

“If there is not notification, there can’t be dialogue,” said Tiffany Saathof, school board vice president.

Opponents countered, saying it could put students at risk.

“It is up to the student to tell their parents when they feel that it’s safe and necessary for them to know that information about them,” said one opponent to the policy.

Teachers rallied near the district office before the meeting, trying to show support for students being included and not targeted in the district. Some parents also spoke out against the policy ahead of the meeting.

"Families that have LGBTQ members, like my own, we're crying out. We're saying, 'Hey, this is not written in an appropriate healthy way. This is going to get people hurt,'" said Price Johnson, a parent.

Travis Mougeotte, president of the Rocklin Teacher Professional Association, said there were concerns about a board policy targeting any one group of students, noting that it could be a violation of safety, student concerns and the culture they vie for in Rocklin.

Wednesday night's vote took place not long after California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued Chino Valley Unified School District for adopting a policy requiring schools to tell parents when their children change their pronouns or use a bathroom of a gender other than the one listed on their official paperwork.

"Families that have LGBTQ members like my own, we're crying out. We're saying, 'Hey, this is not written in an appropriate healthy way. This is going to get people hurt,'" said Bonta.

He said the policy was illegal, dangerous, puts students at risk and violated their rights.

For Rocklin's policy, the conversations about it started last month. The board formed a subcommittee to revise its own policies when it comes to gender identity and pronouns.

It's a cultural flashpoint playing out at school boards around the country.

Related Articles

WATCH THE BOARD MEETING LIVE:

ROCKLIN - The legal battle continues over Rocklin Unified School District's new controversial pronoun policy, as the California Teachers' Association is now weighing in.

CBS13 is getting answers on their concerns and why the school board is standing by its decision.

The union says that a policy like this needed to be bargained with the district before a vote could be implemented. But the board says their legal counsel assured them no laws were being broken with this new policy.

Now, a potential fight is brewing like others we've seen across the state.

Even after the passage of a controversial Rocklin School Board policy, the fight may be ongoing.

"If this board wants to restore any faith with your employees and this community, at the first opportunity you need to suspend this illegal board policy on forced outing," said Mike Patterson, California Teacher's Union spokesperson.

As back-and-forths continued between board members and union leaders, Rocklin Unified School District Chairperson Tiffany Saathoff asked, "Can you please reference what laws were broken?"

Patterson responded, "So the illegal action was the new board policy on forced outing, which is against California law." Tiffany Saathoff inquired, "And which law is that?"

California Teacher's Association: Policy Violates Minors' Rights

Similar to the Chino Valley case, the union's argument is that a policy such as this violates a minor's right to privacy as set forth by the state constitution, which could put teachers in direct conflict with either the law or school policy.

The CTA believes the policy needs to be collectively bargained. Patterson stated, "In order for Rocklin to come to the table, which of course we are willing to do, you have to rescind the policy so we can have a level playing field for negotiations."

Attorney General Rob Bonta sued the Chino Valley District and told CBS13 in a statement that they are committed to "unwavering support to ensure every student has the right to learn and thrive in a school environment that promotes safety, privacy, and inclusivity."

When asked if Rocklin could be the subject of similar legal action, the office said in a statement, "He continues monitoring school districts considering similar policies statewide."

At that meeting, the Rocklin School Board said that their legal counsel advised them that they were not in violation of the law but that they welcomed any discussion with the CTA should they want to advance the issue of potential union violations.

Andrew Haubner

Andrew Haubner joins the CBS13 team after spending the last four years running the sports department at KEZI-TV in Eugene, Oregon.

Twitter Facebook