Rocklin Unified School District has passed a new policy that could risk the safety of transgender students. This policy will require teachers to report directly to parents if a student requests a name change, pronoun change, or asks to use a different bathroom than their birth-assigned sex. A student who is comfortable using a different name with their teacher, but not yet “outed” to their parents could be forced into a bad place because of the risks of notifying a parent that their child might be transgender.

“I would feel terrified… I would not be able to trust the teacher, school, or district again,” commented ‘John’, a Placer transgender student who wished to remain anonymous because they do not want their parents to know that they are trans.

This policy could put transgender students into a potentially abusive situation if their parents are transphobic. 

“I would be unsafe, I would feel unsafe,” said John.

Having a safe and trustworthy environment is crucial for a positive high school career. If this policy passed at Placer, trust between transgender students and teachers could be broken, alongside Placer’s healthy environment.

“I’d definitely have to be more secretive, and would distance myself from anyone I don’t completely trust,” stated John.

This policy advocates for more transparency between parent and student, with such a large factor in a teenager’s development holding a secret could lead to complications. However, the risk of abuse could be still prevalent if a trans teen feels that they are in an unsafe situation to talk to their parents.

According to the National Library of Medicine, seventy-three percent of transgender adolescents experience physiological abuse, with 39% of transgender adolescents experiencing physical abuse in their household. With this raised chance of abuse, a notification to bigoted parents could lead to abuse and anxiety.

Trans student Kk Miller said that transgender students would “absolutely” be at risk if they had to tell their parents.

The Placer Unified High School District’s board hasn’t publicly taken a stance on this type of policy.

Currently, a related policy at Chino School District has been taken to the California Court and the results of this case could affect alike policies.

Ron Oates, the current president of the school board, said “The Board has not discussed taking a position on this matter” although a request to review the current board policy on parental/guardian notification (BP 5145.6) and parental rights and responsibilities (Regulation 5020) were requested by board member Jessica Spaid at the August board meeting.