ANALYSIS: School Districts Maintain ‘Gender Secrecy’ Policies Despite SCOTUS Ruling

According to a new analysis, dozens of school districts in Pennsylvania are maintaining gender secrecy policies that prevent teachers and staff from informing parents on matters relating to their preferred “gender identity” and pronouns.

This past March, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of California parents in a landmark case that challenged state legislation pertaining to such policies. The ruling addressed provisions of the Support Academic Futures and Educators for Today’s Youth Act, commonly known as the SAFETY Act (Assembly Bill 1955).

The law prohibited school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and state special schools from enacting or enforcing any policy, rule, or administrative regulation that requires an employee or contractor to disclose a pupil’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to any other person without the pupil’s consent, unless otherwise required by law. This includes parents and/or guardians.

It also protects school employees from retaliation if they refuse to disclose such information.

Critics of the legislation filed a class-action lawsuit, Mirabelli v. Olson, which challenged the law’s provisions on parental notification in public schools regarding students’ gender identity. That case eventually made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which reinstated a federal injunction and determined that the parents were likely to succeed on the merits of their claims under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

California’s policies, according to the high court, substantially interfere with parents’ right to guide the religious development of their children, which triggered strict scrutiny.

The ruling does not strike down the SAFETY Act itself but prevents its nondisclosure provisions from being enforced against parents while the case proceeds through the Ninth Circuit.

Despite the ruling, an analysis from Broad + Liberty found that at least 21 public school districts are still maintaining policies similar to those of the SAFETY Act. One teacher employed by the Chester County Intermediate Unit, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, stated that the IU’s student information database has a section to list the student’s “given name” and “preferred name.”

“We are aware of the case, and our solicitor continues to monitor it,” Chester County Intermediate Unit Director of Communications Christa Fazio told the outlet. “If need be, we will revise our policies to comport with state and federal law and judicial precedent.”

It also includes a “notes” section that lists students’ preferred pronouns, as well as instructions on communicating with parents on matters of gender preferences and pronouns.

The School District of Philadelphia — the largest school district in Pennsylvania — includes similar instructions on communicating with parents and directs staff to communicate with students based on their preferred gender selection.

Residents in two additional Pennsylvania districts filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR). Alexis Pasternak, a parent in the Haverford School District, filed a complaint with the OCR in reference to its Gender Expansive & Transgender Students (GET) policy.

“In general, the prerogative to assert the rights of the gender expansive and transgender students belong to the student and do not require additional parental/guardian consent unless the assertion of a right delineated in these guidelines implicate parental/guardian rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act or other applicable law,” reads the policy’s guidelines.

The Haverford School District also mandates teachers and staff to comply with students’ preferred pronouns, regardless of any input from a parent or guardian. “Students shall be addressed by the name and pronouns that correspond to their gender identity without obtaining a court order, changing their school records or obtaining parent/legal guardian permission,” the policy’s “Names/Pronouns” section reads.

Pasternak filed the complaint in September 2025, and it was assigned to an OCR attorney last month, Broad + Liberty reported.

“I suggested to the school board and Superintendent in the past that this policy, and its regulations specifically, could be a liability for the district which is why my request has always been to simply reexamine and revise the policy and regulations like they do with countless others,” Pasternack told the outlet. “I’ve gotten the impression they’re just trying to avoid it altogether so I filed a complaint.”

The policy remains in place as of this report.

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