Blue state school district accused of defying Supreme Court, hiding gender transitions from parents

A New Jersey school district is facing a federal lawsuit over a policy that allows students to change their name and gender identity at school without parental notification.

The Thomas More Society filed the lawsuit on August 24 against the School District of the Chathams, alleging that the district's policy violates the constitutional rights of parents and students. The plaintiffs include the conservative advocacy group Moms for Liberty, the organization Moms for America, and two anonymous parents of elementary school-aged daughters.

At the center of the dispute is Policy 5756, which permits students to alter their names in official school records, use bathrooms and locker rooms matching their gender identity, and relies on a school guidance counselor to determine "whether, and to what extent" parents are informed. Christopher Ferrara, senior counsel for the Thomas More Society, argued that the policy unlawfully conceals significant decisions about a child's identity from their parents.

"The court has made clear in the Mirabelli case, and the Third Circuit has a decision along the same lines, that parents have standing to challenge a policy like this, which would hide a gender transition from the parents, whether or not the child is actually transitioning," Ferrara said.

The lawsuit points to the U.S. Supreme Court's March ruling in Mirabelli v. Bonta, in which justices granted an injunction blocking California policies that kept students' gender identities confidential from parents. The plaintiffs also cite Mahmoud v. Taylor, a Supreme Court decision affirming parents' right to opt their children out of lessons involving LGBTQ+ themes.

Ferrara said the standing to sue extends beyond parents whose children are directly affected. "The Supreme Court indicated that the reason parents have standing is that the parents are the objects of this policy. 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," he explained.

Beyond the parental notification issue, the lawsuit raises concerns about student privacy in shared facilities. Ferrara argued that students who are not seeking to transition could find themselves sharing locker rooms and bathrooms with members of the opposite sex under the policy.

Tina Descovich, CEO and co-founder of Moms for Liberty, also claimed that the district's code of conduct could punish students who decline to use a classmate's preferred pronouns or chosen name. "They have a policy in the school district that will actually punish children that don't use the demanded new gender identity pronoun and name of another student," Descovich said. "They can do that just one time on accident and they can be punished up to suspension just for using the wrong pronoun or the wrong name of someone that is identifying as something other than they actually are."

The lawsuit accuses the district of infringing on the First Amendment rights of parents and students to free speech and religious liberty, as well as the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment.

Tensions over the policy escalated at a school board meeting on June 15, 2026, when Ann Ciccarelli, president of the Chatham School District Board of Education, stated that the district was not legally bound by the Mirabelli decision and was required to follow New Jersey Department of Education guidance issued in 2018 regarding transgender students. However, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin has acknowledged that the 2018 guidance is not mandatory, according to NJ Spotlight News.

"The Supreme Court has ruled twice on these issues," Descovich said. "We know that parents have to have a right to opt out of things that violate their religious beliefs."

Ferrara also alleged that parents who have spoken out against the policy have faced intimidation and threats, saying one family has had police security outside their home. "This is what happens when you oppose these policies," Ferrara said. "You basically are going to be subjected to a vicious public backlash by ideologues who are totally intolerant of basically the normal point of view on this issue."

Fox News Digital reached out to the School District of the Chathams for comment but did not receive a response prior to publication.