Murrieta Valley Unified to vote on rescinding, reworking transgender notification policy

The Murrieta Valley Unified School District board on Thursday night will consider rescinding and reworking its policy requiring school officials to notify parents if their child shows signs of being transgender, The Press-Enterprise reported. 

The item was placed on the agenda “for consideration recognizing the well-publicized actions and challenges related to this specific board policy in districts throughout California,” according to an email statement from the district. 

The statement added that “the district regularly reviews and updates its policies to comply with current law or district circumstances,” The Press Enterprise reported. 

President Paul Diffley, however, told the news organization that revising the policy could make it more likely to withstand legal challenges. He added that he plans to propose tabling the item this evening. 

“We need to go back and revisit it for one meeting,” he said. “I want to make sure we do the best that we can do.”

Earlier this month, Chino Valley Unified revamped its version of the policy — also intended to give it a stronger case in court. 

Diffley said both districts share the same lawyers and that changing the policy’s language came as advice from one of the attorneys. 

“I can’t justify doing that at this point because that’s pencil and paper and crayon money,” he told The Press Enterprise.