by Greg Piper
Silicon Valley school district knew Supreme Court requires parental notice and opt-out for materials that undermine parents' religious instruction, and went through months of talks before it "abruptly flipped," suit says.
One of the major hubs of Silicon Valley is knowingly violating a year-old Supreme Court precedent requiring school districts to notify parents before they expose students to "LGBTQ+-inclusive" materials, from health to math class, and let them opt out, according to a new lawsuit by the religious liberty firm who secured the precedent.
Sunnyvale School District held multiple meetings about the high court's ruling last year in Mahmoud v. Taylor and recognized its legal obligations, as elaborated by the California Department of Education, while pledging it would seek to persuade parents to let their children experience materials such as a how-to book on becoming a drag queen, Becket's lawsuit on behalf of Justin and Rose Taylor says.
But after "months of cordial conversation" with Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints members Justin and Rose Taylor about opting out their two children under age 10, the district "abruptly flipped" its reading of Mahmoud, telling the Taylors it only applies to the "specific set of facts" SCOTUS considered and that state law supersedes the precedent, according to Becket.
"Sunnyvale has now affirmatively disclaimed its constitutional responsibility" to give parents notice and opt-out from instruction that "substantially interferes with the religious development of their children," the suit says, quoting the June 2025 SCOTUS ruling.
It includes more than 100 pages of exhibits, including pages from the books shown to students, the Taylors' correspondence with Cumberland Elementary Principal Shana Riehl and District Director of Student Support Services Paul Slayton from September through January, and Slayton's surprise rejection letter Feb. 2 with the district's bespoke interpretation of Mahmoud.
“The Constitution doesn’t come with a California carveout," yet the district is trying to "override the Taylors’ clearly protected parental rights while paying lip service to the very diversity the Taylors represent," Becket counsel Michael O’Brien said.
A Becket spokesperson told Just the News it will seek personal liability for individual defendants – Riehl, Slayton, Superintendent Gudiel Crosthwaite and all school board members – for violating "clearly established" law, the threshold for revoking the qualified immunity of public officials. It plans to file a motion for preliminary injunction "in the coming days."
The district didn't respond to Just the News queries.
Drag queen lessons from 'Lil Miss Hot Mess'
The lawsuit elaborates on the exact LGBTQ materials Sunnyvale uses, some of which it shares with the district that lost Mahmoud, Maryland's Montgomery County Public Schools, reportedly the most religiously diverse county in America.
They include Pride Puppy, which celebrates Pride Parade fixtures including the pioneering transgender prostitute Marsha Johnson, and Prince & Knight, about a fairy-tale same-sex wedding.
The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish invites children to dance like a drag queen to the melody of "The Wheels on the Bus." Its author, Harris Kornstein, said the book grew out of his Drag Queen Story Hour work as "Lil Miss Hot Mess," and he hopes it will inspire children to become drag queens "when they grow up."
The most destabilizing book for children may be Jack (Not Jackie), whose protagonist decides she is a boy because she enjoys boys' toys, clothes and activities, and whose sister gradually overcomes her resistance to "Jack" identifying as a boy.
Home to headquarters for Yahoo and LinkedIn, and satellite campuses for Google, Amazon and Meta, Sunnyvale isn't alone in allegedly seeking a way around the precedent obtained by Becket on behalf of Muslim, Christian and Jewish parents against Maryland's MCPS, for which it paid them $1.5 million.
SCOTUS rebuked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in March for blocking a lower court's injunction on California's so-called gender-secrecy policies that keep information about students’ gender transitioning confidential from parents unless the students consent, in a case known as Mirabelli, claiming it "brushed aside" the Mahmoud precedent by wrongly limiting it to"curricular decisions."
'By shift, I think you mean a 180'
Both the Golden State and school districts quickly recognized Mahmoud as a threat to their efforts to inculcate LGBTQ messages in children without parental input, the suit says.
Within weeks of the decision, the California Department of Education told school districts they now must notify parents and allow opt-outs when they adopt "policies or curricular materials" that they have "reason to know" will undermine and interfere with students' religious development as sought by their parents, citing Mahmoud.
The precedent applies to "an elementary classroom curriculum that incorporated LGBTQ+ themed storybooks," the state said Aug. 6. Riverside Unified didn't look for an exception, creating an online opt-out form, the suit notes.
The Sunnyvale Board of Education held a meeting in August 2025 to discuss the precedent, with Superintendent Crosthwaite presenting the state guidance. A month later, the board adopted a resolution that acknowledges "legal opt-out provisions may exist" but pledges to "remind families of the richness of what 'opting in' provides."
A week after that board meeting, the Taylors sent detailed instructions to Principal Riehl on excusing their children from any setting, whether classroom, library or field trip, in which "LGBTQ+-inclusive" storybooks and "similar materials" are used. They must be given "a neutral alternative activity without academic penalty, stigma, or unexcused absences."
Riehl and Slayton, the director of student support services, communicated in apparent good faith with the Taylors over the next four months while emphasizing the district's response to the ruling was a work in progress.
"Our typical 'opt out' process is not functional for Mahmoud v. Taylor yet and, quite frankly, legal council [sic] is still a bit confused as to ho [sic] to formally respond to these requests as they're so new," Slayton wrote Jan. 28. Two days later, he said he'd have a "final draft today" incorporating the Taylors' requests for "additional clarification" on some items.
Using the district's official letterhead, and making no reference to their months of talks, Slayton dropped a bomb on the parents days later: No notification or opt-out would be granted.
"Sunnyvale School District follows California state law and Board-adopted policy," which require "representation of LGBTQ+ individuals and families" in the "core academic program," he wrote. "This content is not optional and is not subject to parent opt-out provisions."
Mahmoud "addressed a specific set of facts in another state and does not create a general or automatic right for parents to opt their children out of required curriculum," Slayton wrote. "It also does not override California's statutory requirements governing instructional content."
Hence, the district is "not granting opt-outs from LGBTQ+-inclusive curriculum or storybooks that are part of our adopted educational program," he said, citing "further review."
Slayton emailed them Feb. 3 with the formal determination letter, dated the day before, dismissing their months of work on an "individual implementation plan" because the district determined a "formal opt-out from these specific materials does not align with Sunnyvale School District’s core instructional framework and our commitment to a unified curriculum."
"We understand that this represents a shift from our previous working sessions," Slayton said.
Justin Taylor replied: "By shift, I think you mean a 180."
The suit concludes with a demand for the nuclear option: not only injunctions forcing the district to honor Mahmoud for the Taylors, and nominal and compensatory damages, but also punitive damages for acknowledging and then allegedly flouting precedents.
"Because of this case’s factual similarity to Mahmoud" and the high court's application of the precedent to the Mirabelli decision blocking gender secrecy policies in California schools, the Taylors have "more than enough legal authority to clearly establish that Defendants’ denial of notice and opt-outs violates parental rights," the suit also says.
Greg Piper
Source: https://justthenews.com/nation/religion/parents-go-nuclear-school-district-forcing-lgbtq-their-kids-seek-punitive-damages
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