Eight Hilliard schools parents sue district over teachers' handling of LGBT+ issues

Eight parents of Hilliard City School District are accusing the district in a federal lawsuit of allowing teachers to discuss sexual matters with students, including young children, while talking about LGBTQ+ issues. 

The parents, in a lawsuit filed Monday, want the U.S. District Court in Columbus to issue an order prohibiting such discussions and to prohibit Hilliard teachers from wearing badges that show their support for LGBTQ+ students.

Hilliard attorney Joshua J. Brown filed the complaint Monday on behalf of the parent plaintiffs. The plaintiffs are: Rachel Kattenbach, Daniel and Sarah Kamento, Bethany Bussell, Jennifer King, Tanya Ciomek, Leizl Zirkle and Lisa B. Chaffee.

A spokesperson for Hilliard City Schools declined to comment Tuesday until the district has received and reviewed the lawsuit. The district has about 910 teachers and 16,500 students, according to its website.

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"The parents are asking the Court for a declaratory judgment that would affirm their firmly established constitutional rights to direct the upbringing of their children," Brown said in a statement.

Messages left with the Hilliard Education Association, which represents Hilliard school teachers, were not returned Tuesday afternoon.

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According to a statement by the union in September, the "I’m here. Safe person. Safe space" badges that some Hilliard educators opted to wear are "visible symbols of their support to their students who may need it and serve as a critical lifeline for LGBTQ+ students who are in crisis who need a trusted adult to help.”

In its September statement, the Hilliard Education Association said LGBTQ+ children are often mistreated and stigmatized and desperately need support.

“Unfortunately, extremists working to amplify the playbooks of a national network of political radicals are once again trying to manufacture controversy and weaponize LGBTQ+ issues to distract Ohioans from the very real issues facing our schools," the statement says.

Some parents have raised concerns for months, lawsuit says

Some parents have been asking the district for clarification on its policies around LGBT+ issues, including whether teachers can report a student identifying with a different gender or name to their parents, since at least the summer. At least 30 parents have raised concerns at school board meetings, in private meetings with the superintendent and through letters written by attorney Brown to the district, according to court documents.

The eight parents involved in the complaint want school staff to notify parents when their child opts at school for a different name or pronouns or has symptoms of gender dysphoria (distress a person has because they feel their gender identity does not match their sex assigned at birth).

The complaint says confusion in schools across the country arose in June when the U.S. Department of Education proposed amending its Title IX regulations, including explicitly protecting against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

In a July meeting with several parents, according to the complaint, Hilliard Superintendent David Stewart said the law is unclear, but teachers would be putting themselves at risk if they were to out a student to their parents without the child's permission.

According to the complaint, the district told parents in September that by default it informs parents of matters like gender dysphoria symptoms, but there may be exceptions for the child's health and safety.

The parents argue in the complaint nothing in Title IX or any other law "justifies a school district policy that withholds medical or mental health information about a child from his/her parents."

Additional plaintiffs possible, attorney says 

The "I’m here" badges worn by teachers include a QR code on the back that links to a list of resources for teachers. The complaint alleges some of those online resources are sexually explicit or inappropriate. 

According to the union’s statement from September, the resources are “for educators — not students — to ensure trusted adults are equipped to support their students and provide assistance as needed.”

The complaint also alleges that Hilliard teachers did not inform a family that their teenage child, who was assigned female at birth, was choosing to identify as a boy and go by a different name at school. The parents found out in October when they were called into the school because a friend reported their child discussed self-harm.

Brown told The Dispatch the parents involved in that incident are not plaintiffs in the complaint, but will likely get added to the complaint or sue the school separately.

jlaird@dispatch.com

@LairdWrites