A New Jersey school district is currently the subject of a lawsuit stemming from a policy that enables students to change their name and gender identity within the school environment without mandated parental notification.
The policy, adopted by the School District of the Chathams, outlines that students are able to update their name in official school documents and to use restrooms and locker rooms consistent with their asserted gender identity. Decisions regarding the extent and necessity of parental involvement in these choices are left to the school guidance counselor.
According to Christopher Ferrara, senior counsel for the Thomas More Society, which filed the legal action, the school's policy allegedly contradicts the Supreme Court's March ruling in Mirabelli v. Bonta. That decision issued an injunction preventing California from enforcing state policies that maintain confidentiality regarding students' gender identities from their parents while the matter proceeds through the judicial system.
“The policy provides that this information will be hidden from them, so they have the right to object to it, whether or not their particular child or children is at that moment being transitioned. And there's always a risk, of course, that the child under peer pressure, or the influence of teachers, or social media will go along with this ridiculous trend and decide that his gender is not the biological one that parents believe is God-given and immutable, but some other gender.”
Ferrara additionally noted that the policy could have significant implications for students not undergoing gender transition, as they might be required to use private facilities, such as locker rooms and restrooms, alongside individuals of a different biological sex.
Parental Rights and Constitutional Concerns
Tina Descovich, CEO and founder of Moms for Liberty, an organization listed among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, also asserted that students declining to use peers' chosen pronouns might incur disciplinary measures under the school's code of conduct.
The lawsuit, initiated on August 24, includes Moms for America and two anonymous parents of elementary school-aged daughters as plaintiffs. The legal challenge contends that the school infringes upon the First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and religious practice for both parents and students, in addition to violating the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause. The school district is further accused of undermining parental rights upheld by the Supreme Court in Mahmoud v. Taylor, which established parents' ability to withdraw their children from lessons focused on LGBTQ+ themes.
“The Supreme Court has ruled twice on these issues,” Descovich stated. “We know that parents have to have a right to opt out of things that violate their religious beliefs.”
District's Stance and State Guidance
This legal action follows a school board meeting held on June 15, 2026, during which Ann Ciccarelli, president of the Chatham School District Board of Education, indicated that the district was not legally compelled by the Mirabelli ruling. Instead, she asserted, the district was required to adhere to the 2018 guidance from the New Jersey Department of Education concerning transgender students.
However, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin confirmed that Policy 5756 is not compulsory, according to reporting by NJ Spotlight News.
“The guidance violates both Maribel and it violates Mahmood and so you know there's a lot of crossover and confusion here but what it comes down to is the school board the school has a duty and responsibility to protect constitutional rights of the citizens in its community of its employees of its students of its families and it is not doing that,” Descovich commented.
