Mom reacts to California judge blocking gender-change notification policy: Trying to ‘divide’ families

A Chino Valley, California mom is speaking out after a judge struck down a policy requiring teachers in one district to inform parents if a student chooses to change genders. 

“We need to be honest. We need to strengthen our family relationships. And it seems like the schools and the state, they’re trying to divide us,” mother of six Misty Startup told “The Big Money Show” Tuesday. 

A California judge last week blocked Chino Valley Unified School District’s newly passed parental notification policy, which required staff to inform parents if a student identified as transgender.

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San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Thomas S. Garza even suggested that some parents posed a “clear and present danger” to LGBTQ+ students in his ruling against the Southern California school district.

“They’re trying to make the parents seem evil and dangerous. But for the majority of parents, they want to be involved in their kids’ lives. They want to know and be able to talk to their kids and just have an honest relationship,” Startup said. 

The temporary restraining order from Judge Garza was issued in response to California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s lawsuit against the Chino Valley Unified School District over the notification policy. He had objected to the policy, arguing it “unconstitutionally discriminates” against LGBTQ+ students and violates their privacy rights.

Chino Valley Unified School District Board of Education President Sonja Shaw blasted the judge’s decision in a statement to Fox News Digital, calling opponents “government bullies.” She also criticized the attorney general for claiming the policy doesn’t protect children from being abused. 

Parents like Startup have criticized state officials and teachers for attempting to cut parents out of significant decisions such as gender ideology.

“This is the parental rights fight of our time,” Capitol Resource Institute president Karen England told Fox News Digital.

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The battle over parental rights in California has been contentious, and advocates have criticized government leaders for siding against parents.  

“So it’s basically parents and school boards versus Governor [Gavin] Newsom, the Attorney General and the Superintendent of Public Instruction. They all want to keep secrets from parents,” England said.

“It’s interesting because my child doesn’t become a student until me, as the parent, drops them off at the school. So they’re my child first. They’re my child twenty-four-seven. They’re only a student for a temporary amount of time at the school. So for somebody to step in and say, we’re going to control your child and how you parent from now on is absolutely ridiculous,” Startup added.

Amid the ongoing gender ideology debate, parents like Startup are also emphasizing the need for schools to “go back to the foundations” in education to better prepare students. 

“We have to go back to the foundations, foundations of reading, writing, arithmetic,” Startup said. “We go to school so that we can become adults, that we can become independent, so we can go out into society and contribute through our workforce. We’re not focusing on the basics. So they’re bringing in curriculum that is not important.”

“It doesn’t matter if you’re gay or straight, trans. When you’re taking Spanish or chemistry or reading, it has no bearing. But yet we’re not focusing on the basics and the foundations. We need to get back to that.”

FOX News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.