Round One: Bonta Prevails Against Chino Valley

"...but the judge had not read them"

A San Bernardino County Superior Court judge issued a temporary restraining order this morning to prevent Chino Valley Unified School District from carrying out its parental notification policy regarding “transgender and gender-nonconforming” students. By court order, a school district will be forced to keep secrets from parents. Judge Thomas Garza is a Democrat, appointed to the bench by Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. I’ll let you mine all the subtext in that last sentence.

An Alice in Wonderland report in the Los Angeles Times assures readers that the transition to court-ordered secrecy will restore trust between school officials and parents:

“Educating children works best with engaged parents and caring teachers working together to create a safe space for all children to learn,” Kristi Hirst, a parent and former Chino Valley Unified school teacher, said in a statement. “This policy breaks down trust between parents, teachers and students and exposes our most vulnerable students.”

You can’t trust people who tell you the truth about your own children, so a policy of hiding and lying restores trust. So obvious — why didn’t I think of that?

Fortunately, we don’t have to rely on the El Segundo Pravda to tell us how the hearing on the TRO went, because the lawyer and activist mom Laura Powell was in the courtroom. Read her detailed thread here, and repost/like if you’re on the Site Formerly Known as Twitter, but here’s the big finish:

Powell’s description reflects my own view about Bonta’s lazy and dismal false framing, but the judge went with his feelings rather than the law. “Chino Valley Unified did submit briefs, but the judge had not read them.” Great job, your honor.

My thanks to Laura Powell for her careful observations from the courtroom.