A California-based pro-public schools group is fighting back against parental notification policies being passed by school boards across the state and nation, calling these measures a "distraction" from what's actually needed to improve schools.
Kristi Hirst is a parent and former teacher in the Chino Valley Unified School District ["CVUSD"], and co-founder of Our Schools USA. Hirst's group joined teachers unions, civil rights groups, and Democratic leadership in the state to oppose a parental notification policy passed by her school district this past July. The policy would require staff to inform parents if a student identified as transgender.
Hirst told FOX News Digital she formed the group last February in response to the "continuous attacks on public schools." She explained parents in the district are unhappy with the direction the local school board is heading. These policies "break down" the trust between parents and educators, she said.
"I am a parent and a lot of these people screaming for parent rights are seeking to take away rights and choices for my kids and my family, telling me how to raise them," Hirst said. "And educating kids works best when you have engaged parents with caring teachers, working together to create a safe space for all kids to learn. And this policy is breaking that down."
At least half a dozen districts across California have passed similar policies. However, the former teacher denied that conflicts between parents and schools over gender identity were a problem in CVUSD before the policy was drafted.
She also blasted school board president Sonja Shaw, who spearheaded the policy, as a political figure who has no interest in the local school system.
"[T]his policy is creating a distraction from things that we actually need to work on. So, for example, we have a school board president putting her own personal political gain ahead of the needs of the people she's been elected to serve. And we are watching as we cannot attract quality teachers in this district because we don't have teachers. People don't want to work somewhere where their school board is attacking them," Hirst said.
Chino Valley public schools have one of the highest rates of teacher shortages in the area, she claimed.
"And that is a problem. We literally cannot attract teachers because of this focus on something that is not enhancing the public school system," Hirst said.
Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta has sued the school district over the policy, which he said "unconstitutionally discriminates" against LGBTQ students and violates their privacy rights.
Hirst accused the school board of attempting to get their "illegal notification policy a hearing in the United States Supreme Court," after they hired the Liberty Justice Center earlier this month to represent them in the lawsuit.
She said Shaw was "wasting" the district's time and resources, while it's already struggling to fill teacher vacancies.
"In other words, you are wasting our time. You are wasting our resources. We have a teacher shortage and teachers do not want to work here. You are costing us more than just money. You are costing us capable staff that are irreplaceable, and you know it," she slammed Shaw in a press release. "You are hiring this firm to invite a long, protracted court battle that will cost our school district money in legal fees – money that won’t be spent on educating our children."
Our Schools is working on keeping people on the school board who "are focused on the achievement and success of all of our students and all of our families," she said.
The parental notification policies are the group's main focus currently, but her group also fights against book bans, and localized efforts to remove certain AP courses from the high school curriculum, the Our Schools website states.
Sonja Shaw did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Shaw previously called state leadership "government bullies" for suing the district over the parent notification policy.
"Parents this is the inflection point in history where we have the opportunity to stand up to the government bullies in the political cartel and let them know we have rights over our children. Nobody sends their kids to school in hopes that the school will keep secrets from them; we send our school kids to school to be educated. We have a sacred duty, responsibility and constitutional rights over our children," she said to FOX News Digital.
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