DOJ investigates gender ideology in California schools

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division on Monday opened a compliance review into the sex and gender instruction policies of four public school districts in California. San Francisco Unified School District, Santa Rita Union School District, Soledad Unified School District, and Graves Elementary School District will be investigated. Authorities will look into whether the districts properly notified parents of their right to opt children out of teaching on sexual orientation and gender ideology, the department said.

California state law requires that sex education include such topics. However, social studies and history classes in California schools also appeared to contain gender ideology, the Justice Department said. The San Francisco school district previously told teachers that they didn’t need to notify parents or get permission when discussing gender ideology. But federal law on parental notice and opt-out provisions applied to all sex education topics, especially in the wake of recent Supreme Court decisions affirming parental rights, the department said.

Investigators also planned to assess whether the school districts’ policies on participation in sports teams and on access to bathrooms and locker rooms were based on gender identity or biological sex. Taxpayer-funded schools need to comply with federal Title IX standards protecting girls from sex-based discrimination, the department said.

The school board president for Soledad Unified School District told Salinas-based KSBW-TV, that the district believed it was complying with Title IX and parental rights, and that it would cooperate with the Department of Justice. Santa Rita Union School District told KSBW-TV that the policies under review were adopted to comply with California law and based on recommendations from the California School Boards Association. 

Dig deeper: Read Liz Lykins’ report on a California school district’s Supreme Court appeal over parental notification rights.