Amphitheater Public Schools had training for staff that stated there is “no obligation to disclose information to parents”

Parents Defending Education submitted a public records request to Amphitheater Public Schools seeking any guidance from the district on transgender issues. The district provided PDE with a presentation titled “Title IX and Transgender Students: Bathrooms, Athletics, and More.” One of the creators of the presentation is a part-time professor at the University of Arizona who also currently serves as general counsel to the Tucson Unified School District.

In a slide titled “Use of Preferred Names and Pronouns,” the presentation explained that “any attempt to encourage or coerce a minor child to withhold information from the child’s parent is grounds for discipline of an employee of this state, any political subdivision of this state, any other governmental entity or any other institution, except for law enforcement personnel.” However, the presentation on the same slide states that there is “no obligation to disclose information to parents, no right to withhold it.”

The presentation also states that staff are required to use the preferred pronouns of students: “OCR guidance and proposed rule require schools to use students’ preferred names and pronouns.” The presentation then later explains regarding preferred pronouns and names: “Parent preference outweighs student preference, but schools have no obligation to seek it out.”