State superintendent warns Chino Valley Unified that proposed anti-transgender resolution is illegal

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond on Wednesday issued a stern warning to Chino Valley Unified over its proposed resolution that would exclude transgender students from being able to use bathrooms and other facilities designated for the gender they identify with.

The resolution was proposed by school board member James Na and prompted by a recent sexual assault in a high school bathroom. However, the resolution did not say where or when the sexual assault occurred, or if it even happened at a Chino Valley Unified school.

The proposal would restrict the use of restrooms, locker rooms, physical education classes, intramural sports and interscholastic athletic programs to students based on their “biological” gender. Schools would provide gender-neutral or single-use restrooms or changing areas as well as other alternatives in order “to address any student’s privacy concerns in using sex-segregated facilities.”

If passed at tomorrow’s Chino Valley Unified school board meeting, Thurmond said, the resolution would violate Section 221.5(F) of California’s Education Code, which states:

“A pupil shall be permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.”

Gender-neutral facilities may be offered by schools, but only as a matter of personal choice and not compulsion, Thurmond said.

Thurmond said the California Department of Education is “prepared to take action to defend trans and LGBTQ students should (the resolution) pass.”