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Thousand Oaks

Third-grade Teacher Promotes Gender Confusion in Classroom

Newbury Park father Jim Monroe (who asked not to use his real name) was surprised to hear from his third-grade daughter recently that a girl in her class at Maple Elementary had come to school claiming to be a boy and that the teacher had re-introduced the child to the class as a boy with a new name.

“I get home and hear about this. My wife is extremely upset. I’m upset,” Monroe told the Guardian.

The teacher also played a video related to a book entitled Call Me Max, which explicitly promotes “transgender” ideology to children — all without asking permission from parents or alerting them that it would happen.

The Monroes emailed the teacher asking for links to the material, and after reviewing it, “I disagreed with it completely,” Jim says.

Call Me Max, which has colorful illustrations like any children’s book, begins: “When I look in the mirror, I see a boy. I see a boy with spiky brown hair. … I also see a boy who is transgender.” The book follows “Max’s” journey to deciding which bathroom to use, which gender he feels like inside and telling his parents he is “transgender.”

Jim approached the principal, Patty Lewis, at drop-off soon afterward, asking how the school dared to teach such content to third graders.

“It was inappropriate for the school to show this video,” Jim says. “These are nine-year-olds and don’t understand. … I read her the riot act but didn’t yell. My adrenaline was going; I was so distraught about this. I said, ‘This is a very sick thing you showed to a child. This should almost be reported to the police.’”

According to Jim, Lewis said she was aware of the video but claimed not to have given permission to the teacher to show it to her class. The Conejo Guardian sought comment from Lewis and from the Parent Faculty Association but received no reply.

The number of incidents of teachers promoting radical sexual agendas and other leftist ideologies in elementary schools is becoming more common as State and County leaders seek to normalize gender dysphoria and other unorthodox views of human sexuality among the young. Worse, teachers and schools increasingly cut parents out of the picture through deliberate strategies.

An April 2022 article by podcast host Jeff Charles called “California Lawyers Train Teachers to Deceive Parents While Grooming Children” reports that public school teachers in Ventura County recently received guidance from a law firm on how to deceive parents of children who are experiencing symptoms of gender dysphoria or confusion about their sexuality.

According to the website Gender LCGB, the Ventura County webinar, hosted by the Ventura County Office of Education last November, was led by two attorneys from a law firm that advises public school districts in California. The seminar guided public school educators on “the legal and practical considerations for ‘affirming’ the identities of transgender and ‘gender diverse’ students” in school.

Attorneys gave Ventura County teachers three hours’ worth of suggestions on how to encourage young students to embrace new gender identities without the child’s parents finding out. Guidance included:

— Giving students “get to know you” forms at the start of the school year to ask students to declare their personal pronouns.

— Not using “gendered words” like “mom and dad,” but “parents” instead.

— Encouraging educators to integrate lessons on perverse or unorthodox sexuality in topics other than sex education because parents have the right to opt their children out of sex education but not other topics.

— Telling teachers that students have a right to privacy that trumps a parent’s right to know.

Attorneys urged educators to refrain from keeping written records of discussions between the school and students about gender and sexuality because parents have a right to view these documents. According to the article, the attorneys recommended ways to conceal documents, like the Gender Support Plan, which offer a roadmap for pushing students to embrace gender dysphoria. They advised teachers to keep these plans “in personal possession” — meaning teachers do not have to share them with parents.

Seminar leaders even suggested that schools issue two different ID cards, one with the student’s legal name and another with his or her chosen name, and to use the child’s given name when sending out mass emails to families. They emphasized that teachers may discuss sexual topics in the context of history, English or other subjects so that families would not legally have to be notified.

The advice was intended to empower educators to circumvent parental authority over children’s moral decisions, which goes directly against state law in California Education Code 51513, which states: “No test, questionnaire, survey, or examination containing any questions about the pupil’s personal beliefs or practices in sex, family life, morality, and religion, or any questions about the pupil’s parents’ or guardians’ beliefs and practices in sex, family life, morality, and religion, shall be administered to any pupil in kindergarten or grades 1 to 12, inclusive, unless the parent or guardian of the pupil is notified in writing that this test, questionnaire, survey, or examination is to be administered and the parent or guardian of the pupil gives written permission for the pupil to take this test, questionnaire, survey, or examination.”

Pushing sexual agendas in grade school classrooms may be one reason California public schools are experiencing an unexpected decline in enrollment — even as they have opened up again for in-person learning.

According to media source Cal Matters, “For the first time since the start of the century, California has fewer than 6 million students attending public schools.” California Department of Education data shows that enrollment is dropping “more quickly than it did before the pandemic, stirring fears of more budget cuts and long-term financial instability for schools,” the article said (see “California public school enrollment drops below 6 million mark” by Joe Hong, April 11, 2022).

Even charter school enrollment is down for the first time since at least 2014, “a major reversal of historical trends,” according to Cal Matters. Kindergarten has not rebounded to anywhere close to its pre-pandemic levels.

“Officials at the California Department of Education did not have a clear explanation for this sudden drop,” the article said. According to one expert, “We just aren’t sure where [the students] have gone.”

Back in Newbury Park, Maple Elementary’s website says the school’s most recent “theme” for the year is: “You have the POWER TO CHOOSE to be KIND and INCLUDE others! ALL ARE WELCOME HERE! EVERYONE DESERVES TO FEEL WELCOME, CONNECTED, ACCEPTED, AND INCLUDED!”

Jim says the third-grade teacher’s surprise introduction of the child experiencing gender dysphoria caused some of the children to “decide they could be boys” for a few days.

“My daughter was getting sick of it,” he says. “She just wanted to play games on her tablet. Now she was confronted with this conversation about being transgender. It was just ridiculous. … It confused all the children.”

The incident prompted him to attend — and speak at — his first Conejo Valley Unified School District board meeting. He urged board members to call him about the situation that happened at Maple Elementary. No school member has. Rather, Monroe received an icy reception, he says.

“[They] looked at me like they despised me or that this guy needs to shut up and move on,” he said.

Also in attendance was a child even younger than his who was experiencing gender dysphoria, and whose mother promoted the confusion.

“This is a parent stepping in and pushing their beliefs on children, more often than not,” Jim told the Guardian. “It scares me that the school board is taking this as normal: ‘Hey, boys are going to cut their penises off, and girls are going to act like boys.’ It’s evident that Ventura County has transitioned from an understanding community to a far-left community that outweighs the needs of the many with the needs of the few.”

The Monroes continue to await any invitation to discuss the way things were handled. Their interactions with the teacher and with Principal Lewis have been indeterminate.

“Parents need to be involved,” Jim urges. “If your kid is in public school, you need to be involved now. We can’t sit back and wait for someone to make decisions for us because they are making wrong decisions. We need to get up there, open our mouths, speak and be involved. There are people that are fighting to help our kids, and they are outnumbered, and it’s time we step up and help them. … When is it going to stop? This generation is being injured by this.”

Joel Kilpatrick
Joel Kilpatrick
Joel Kilpatrick is a writer and journalist.

69 COMMENTS

  1. I applaud Mr. Monroe for courageously stepping up and forward to say this is wrong, because it is.

    The ungrateful liberal agenda that dements children’s worldview with self-loathing, victimhood and escapism is so twisted and one-sided it cannot stand up to the simplest test, a changing of class; for instance, race or religion or nationality. Let’s see what happens when we game out these new values.

    e.g. Jack, a white child, wants to now be called Hakim and identify as an African muslim and everyone must now – by force – call him by his African name and positively identify Jack – a white child – as a black muslim child. Jack, er, Hakim now appropriates traditional African muslim clothing, speaks in the cultural tongue, takes his religious prayers and students and administration must all play along for fear of punishment and shame and even legal scrutiny should they crack Jack’s delicate and delusional façade. How insane is this?

    It only takes a variable to connect a broader rationale to Mr. Monroe righteous outrage. What these schools are doing to our kids is child abuse.

    These young and vulnerable children are simply exploring their ephemeral imagination, not forging their lives in stone. Teachers should be helping them set boundaries. Parents should be seeking answers to why a child has such strong delusions and what environmental and mental conditions are producing alien feelings in one’s skin.

    Our children are our future. They are in crisis. We must figure out why, not further the crisis out of ineptitude or weakness of character.

    Stand up all you Mr. and Mrs. Monroes and say no more!

    • How is changing religion so offensive? Additionally, of course people are going to get upset about race and nationality. While gender is a social construct, and gender roles vary depending on the society, one cannot change where they were born and the history of their people.

      • Dear Him, Her, They or Them (did I leave anyone out?),
        Haha. Social construct. JJ you were indoctrinated in grade school to believe this bs. Follow the science. Here is only Male and female. That’s all you got. JJ go find your safe space and have a good cry because I’m mean to to you. There is an old expression, the truth hurts. I like “the truth will set you free”. Quit lying to yourself about genders.

    • First the obvious good thing, everyone in Conejo Valley wants what’s best for our kids and is willing to go to the mat for them.

      Further, we have a local paper who is brave and ethical who gives the fast-growing other side of this trendy issue a well-deserved voice.

      Now the bad news.

      The Superintendent just opened up CVUSD to a major lawsuit by what amounts defamation of a business and slander of a parent with his knee-jerk letter so unbecoming of the leader CVUSD deserves.

      Next, Lauren Gill drives deep the wedge of division on-air to further separate the plummeting population of next year’s enrollment…again.

      This BOE is full-steam ahead on the trans train dismissing the vast number of parents and taxpayers who say NO!

      The current CVUSD BOE is dismissive, arrogant and running an agenda that is out of scope for our schools, but lock step with politics – the very politics McLaughlin and Gill decry. The term for that is projection or double-speak.

      Further, the irony of these groups of private and business trans activists who respond to BOE, T.O. council and VCBOS dog whistles who threaten in obvious, but just outside the legal definition, and who tippy-tap mean things on their keyboards and who threaten local businesses, too, divide more greatly our awesome corner of the world. Some of these groups are connected to our county, city and school district through professional contracts and personal assignments. Maybe that connection should be the next piece of long-journalism CG produces.

      The very people and groups who fight so hard to keep religion out of schools now install another. The fundamentalists act the same. The tactics are the same. The outcome will be the same.

      The song remains the same.

      So goes California, so goes the nation. So goes Ventura County, so goes California. We need new and strong leadership to stop these divisions of intersectionality.

      We need schools and politicians to stay out of pop culture. We need new and strong leaders who ensure that.

      If you don’t like the direction our beautiful valley is headed, vote out who is driving it down that road, or you step up and be the change. If you are brave enough like the Monroes out there and the Conejo Guardian.

    • I will stand with Mr. Monroe and all other parents even though my sons are grown men .
      It is the right thing to do for this generation .
      We have to protect all children from grooming and indoctrination .

  2. Why are we allowing a small group of individuals to determine what our children are to be taught in school? LGBTQ is a small percentage of our population yet they now control the narrative on education. The California Education code 51513 states very clearly that over-sexualization and gender studies being forced on our children is in violation of the Ed Code. Parents have to wake up and take control back! The schools are being educated in how to minimize parental input and how to adopt methods to eliminate parents ability to opt out simply by injecting these studies into core subjects.

    We have heard the horror stories about politicians who are pedophiles and participate in groups that pay for sexually deviant acts. It’s no wonder they are passing bills that allow children to be over sexualized and encourage them to question their gender. They are simply creating a pool of future victims they can indoctrinate into their disgusting life style. Wake up parents! Speak up at your Board meetings. Write letters! And most important…ask your children every day what they learned in school. You may be shocked by their answers!

    • I was educated about sexuality and gender in elementary school, and that didn’t pervert me or my peers. It didn’t change our sexual orientations or gender identities either. The way people orient themselves is the way they feel since birth, and no amount of this “indoctrination” is going to change how they are. Just how gay conversion therapy doesn’t work, nothing is going to make a straight person gay. All that this education will do is let kids know accurate information about these people and teach them not to discriminate their fellow man. Your views are misguided and inaccurate.

      • Gay and trans are separate issues. When I was a young child, myself and most of my friends thought girls had a transmittable disease we called “cooties”. We wanted nothing to do with them. So we only hung out with other guys. Did that make us gay? Of course not! If a teacher had told us, or indoctrinated us to believe we were gay, we may have believed it! Of course once we reached puberty, we wanted to hang out with the girls. I also knew a lot of girls that we considered, “tomboys” as they liked to climb trees, catch frogs, play sports, ride bikes and they did not like dolls or wearing dresses. Were they gay? Most were not, but teachers indoctrinating them in trans rhetoric, at an early age, may confuse them into believing they were trans! IMO, it is dangerous teaching children about gay and trans issues at an early age. They are not physically or mentally ready for it. The fact that some parents are taking it a step further and medically trying to change their young child’s gender is insanity!

  3. This should be reported but, to whom? The teacher in this article should be fired along with any other educator that crosses this line. Teachers, you are educators. Not social influencers. Perhaps this is the root cause of confused teenagers shooting up schools. For God’s sake, let our children figure themselves out without influence or social engineering. Sick.

      • No, we are not afraid of anyone different
        A third grader is too young to be given suggestive input as to gender identity , and certainly not without the parents consent .
        This is strictly about parental rights and informed consent .
        This teacher should be fired for deliberately ignoring the parents rights and violating rules , as should the Principal .
        Clearly inadequate management

  4. “No test, questionnaire, survey, or examination containing any questions about the pupil’s personal beliefs or practices in sex, family life, morality, and religion, or any questions about the pupil’s parents’ or guardians’ beliefs and practices in sex, family life, morality, and religion, shall be administered to any pupil in kindergarten or grades 1 to 12, inclusive, unless the parent or guardian of the pupil is notified in writing that this test, questionnaire, survey, or examination is to be administered and the parent or guardian of the pupil gives written permission for the pupil to take this test, questionnaire, survey, or examination.”

    It wasn’t any of the things that require notification to parents according to the cited law…… it wasn’t a test, questionnaire, survey, or examination.

  5. I’m so glad my children are homeschooled . “Transgender” and “gender dysphoria” are becoming so mainstream. These parents need help. These poor children have no clue what all of this means .

  6. You consider this journalism? This whole editorial team is absolutely pathetic. Get a real job and go cover a real story.

  7. You should write more articles like this and share even more inflammatory rhetoric that way you can encourage someone to do more than tag the school, maybe bring a gun and murder 19 children. You gotta tell them what kind of gun and how to get into the school first as long as you’re trying to get people killed.

    • The teachers and school districts are teaching inflammatory indoctrination to young children! I am glad a media source has the guts to report it and not just sweep it under the rug! I wonder how many parents in these classrooms know about this trans agenda being taught to their children? Thank god the Conejo guardian is getting the word out!

  8. Thank you Conejo guardian for turning our school into a target for the next school shooter who disagrees with what happened. I’m sure you won’t publish the vandalism that happened at the school as a direct result of your article. I’m not taking any sides on this issue but use common sense. How does this benefit your community?

  9. Parents are so over this crap. Let kids be kids.

    Hopefully they will get smart and realize public school enrollment will continue to decrease if they don’t get it together.

  10. LGBTQ Persons are our neighbors, our family members, our work acquaintances. A public school teacher is tasked with making all of their students comfortable and able to learn and be accepted. Telling students about gender dysphoria will not make your child decide to change gender. Teaching children to hate, fear and abuse LGBTQ persons harms your child as well as the person you are targeting. Accepting others does not make you a “Liberal” with an evil agenda. It sounds like the teacher was attempting to spare the child the hate, fear and cruelty that often seeks to minimize persons who are different than our own experiences. I do not think the teacher had any desire to encourage your child to change gender, nor could they.

    • Nice try. Total bs. Those choosing a transgender lifestyle need Psychological help. I really haven’t any issues whatsoever with people that are born gay, male or female. It’s when a boy or girl are told they can be the opposite of what they were born, especially at school by a teacher. . Cutting off your penis does not make you a female. Having your breasts removed doesn’t make you a male. Etc etc.

  11. When did Transgender studies become appropriate for grammar school children? Is the school also teaching children that the American Psychological Association defines Transgenderism (gender dysphoria) as a mental disorder and over half of trans adolescents report having attempted suicide at least once? This is irresponsible and reckless child endangerment and must be stopped. Protect our children.

    https://www.hrc.org/news/new-study-reveals-shocking-rates-of-attempted-suicide-among-trans-adolescen

    • The link you posted clearly talks about bullying, harassment, etc being the reasons for the suicidal ideations. Yet you use it in support of further bullying and harassment. Way to miss the point.

  12. As I said in a previous comment which never made it to this post… School teachers are tasked with the job of making all children safe and welcome at their schools. I don not believe that this teacher was promoting gender dysphoria, trying to confuse students or “grooming” children for gender fluidity. This teacher was trying to help a student avoid cruel and misguided treatment by other students so all could feel safe and accepted and spend their days learning in class. This teacher was not trying to make any student decide to change gender, nor could they. This is not a “left” or political issue. I hope Mr. Monroe can consider this possibility. I hope the hateful vandalism at the school will stop and that all persons involved can maintain an civil and open communication.

  13. This is an absolutely vile article. I am sickened to my stomach. The amount of evil a person would have to harbor in order to write this is unimaginable. The people of this country need to let people be who they and who they want to be, without feeling the need to control others. Learning about people who are different doesn’t change anyone, it just allows for a more inclusive community, don’t you let your own prejudices blind you from that.

    • AGREED! Joel Kilpatrick is a sick pathetic excuse for a “journalist” who has CLEAR BIAS, and hate towards non heterosexual kids. These are the same people who push THEIR beliefs and radical extremist agenda on otheres (church, guns, etc..) but dont want others beliefs to be pushed on them when they dont agree with it. NOT EVERYONE IS STRAIGHT. NOT EVERYONE FEELS THEY BELONG IN THE BODY THEY WERE BORN WITH. LIVE AND LET LIVE. And to the parent who is so “outraged”, your child must be so weak minded to not be able to accept others for who they are. AND THIS MY FRIENDS, is how we have to much hate in our society.

  14. The school was targeted and vandalized right after you distributed this story.

    The fact that our driveways are casually littered with this inflammatory stuff is such a bizarre misallocation of resources.

    • Agree. There should be some kind of consequences for such irresponsible reporting that endangers our children and schools.

    • I agree. I understand that this “newspaper” is a extension of Godspeak—the church that meets at the former YMCA (how does that work—tax funded church?). This is more of a smear piece than actual journalism.

  15. I wouldn’t say that telling kids that trans people exist and not to discriminate against them is a part of a “radical sexual agenda.” People’s gender identity is something they are born with, and being exposed to it isn’t going to suddenly change it. I was taught about transgender and gay people when I was in elementary school, and that didn’t make me suddenly question my sexuality or gender orientation. If anything, being exposed to them helped me become more inclusive to others. Sheltering kids is only going to breed an environment where they won’t how to be respectful to classmates who may be LGBTQ+.

  16. You are despicable for publishing this pablum. How dare you make our public schools a target for this kind of vitriol? And directly after what happened in Texas. What kind of cowardice does it take to target young children?? Well, look no further than mr. killpatrick. You are no journalist.

  17. Kudos to the teacher for trying to create an all- inclusive and tolerant classroom environment. The
    parents could have used this as a teachable moment for their daughter about tolerance, patience, respect, and unconditional love. All of which are not a leftist ideology.

  18. This is a hateful, intolerant waste of good space. Please use your influence to spread knowledgeable information to your community instead of spreading messages of fear and hate.

    • That’s all your government ever did with the Chinese CCP virus. Spreading fear and hate. From the CDC to the FDA to the NIH all the way to the White House!!!

  19. The homophobia and transphobia in this community was made very clear by this article. We need to make more efforts to heal our community.

  20. Ths is child abuse. It should be reported to the police department. Also, I would not have my child attend school until this is corrected and every single parent is compensated. Children are confused enough with all the evil in this world, now you cannot even trust sending your children to school. SHAMEFUL!!!

  21. The lies from this “publication” resulted in vandalism on Maple Elementary. Our community prays nothing else comes from your irresponsible behavior.

    • Please explain where the lies are. I’m the father mentioned in this article and the facts are stated herein. Not only did the school avoid telling me what happened, the principal lied to me and ran away like a coward. They didn’t even send an email after school telling us what they did. How is that alright with you or anyone? This is about parental rights. The only hate I see is from you. These are my children not yours.

  22. I think it’s important to get both sides and some facts. Something The Guardian never rarely does. Here’s from CVUSD.

    Dear CVUSD Community:

    In the Conejo Valley Unified School District we proudly serve ALL students and even more proudly affirm to be a place where ALL students belong.

    It is with great sadness and frustration that I share this with each of you. This past week, not only was our Maple Elementary School’s exterior wall vandalized, but very inaccurate and hurtful statements were posted on social media about other Conejo Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) schools. At this point, it needs to be made very clear that CVUSD students and staff are not pawns in the game of politics. I will not let certain individuals from within our community, plus a local publication (the name of which is intentionally omitted from this letter), spread falsehoods about our students, families, staff, schools, and local school district without fighting back with facts and information.

    As many in our community are aware, on Friday, May 27, 2022, hateful speech was spray painted in giant red letters across the front of Maple Elementary School. This act of vandalism came on the heels of a factless written piece focused on Maple Elementary School (including a photo of the school, along with its school logo printed on the front cover) being dropped on the driveways of homes across Conejo Valley by a local monthly publication. There have been many pieces written in this unreliable source about Conejo Valley USD schools, members of the school board, and district employees that are completely erroneous, mislead readers, spew disinformation, and contain no journalistic or investigative integrity. I will not stay quiet any longer.

    To know this publication released a piece on Thursday, May 26, 2022, and to see the hate on display the following day, raises real concerns about this small group of individuals who do not represent the values and beliefs of our school district. Just days after the horrifying events at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde Texas, I can only ask myself who could react in such a vulgar and intolerant manner by directing ignorance towards one of our elementary schools? This act is not isolated, but one of several recent concerning incidents within our community. On the very same day that graffiti was strewn on our Maple Elementary walls, a social media post from a possible school board candidate criticized Redwood Middle School for information the school provided in support of National Pride Month. This developing pattern of intolerance is deplorable.

    Day in and day out, in the Conejo Valley USD we remain focused on keeping families informed and staying connected to the community we serve. There are countless ways for parents to get involved in their children’s schools. There are also dedicated webpages, information session recordings, and FAQs posted on our district website for a variety of topics including health education, ethnic studies and more. When families or community members have questions on these, or other topics, we cannot emphasize enough the importance of looking to the District website for factual information or directly contacting your school site administrator as a trusted resource.

    The Maple Elementary School community is an extremely special one. They are focused on promoting Friendship, Courage and Integrity amongst their young scholars. The written piece that was printed by the local publication referred to a single classroom lesson in one classroom that took place in January. This lesson was not part of any specific curriculum but was intended to fulfill this teacher’s professional responsibility to create environments that are free of harassment and discrimination, for all students.

    It is imperative for our community to know facts. First, sexuality and gender identity are not instructional content in elementary standards or curriculum. Second, we do have legal and professional responsibilities to create inclusive learning environments, which does mean actions that affirm students’ identities. Fulfilling these responsibilities means that at Maple Elementary and across all District schools we: use inclusive language, use an individual’s names and pronouns, and create a gender affirming classroom and school environments. These responsibilities are guided by federal and state laws (we encourage our community to learn about the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive and Respectful (FAIR) Act, enacted into California Education Code in 2012 to gain a better understanding of our professional responsibilities), local policies and regulations, and our District’s belief that all students deserve an exceptional educational experience.

    Our District staff have provided training to all elementary teachers and administrators, including Maple staff, on how to support our gender diverse students. This training informed teachers that we are not explicitly teaching students about gender as teaching about gender is not part of any approved District elementary curriculum. However, teachers have a legal obligation to create inclusive environments for all students – including our gender diverse students, in which we appropriately use student’s personal pronouns, intervene to address bullying/harassment, and send positive messages to all students that everyone is welcome for who they are.

    Not too long ago we faced a tragic event at Borderline and all came together as a community. We now see vile signs of hate hanging on our local overpasses, anti-Semitic and racist tags at our schools, deliberate twisting of the words of our country’s civil rights leaders’ as a means to block ethnic studies, and homophobic social media posts. And now we have to endure hateful words spewed across the front of one of our elementary schools. This is beyond despicable.

    The most important fact to be taken away from this message is that the Conejo Valley USD will not be deterred from supporting and welcoming ALL students. It is through the fostering of inviting environments that we help to ensure students feel safe, included and truly part of the CVUSD family, which allows them to learn and grow as scholars and importantly as individuals within our classroom walls.

    Law enforcement is conducting an on-going investigation into what occurred at Maple Elementary. This investigation includes increasing patrols in the community surrounding Maple and going door-to-door to speak with nearby residents. We are grateful for our partnership with the Thousand Oaks Police Department and we will continue to work together to support the safety of our students, staff and school communities.

    Please join us in being an ally to support all students. Do not fall victim to printed disinformation.

    Hate has no place in the CVUSD.

    Sincerely,

    Dr. Mark McLaughlin
    Superintendent, Conejo Valley Unified School District

    • UH , you do realize you used a double negative” getting both sides – Something The Guardian never rarely does ”
      That means they do .
      I don’t see any verbiage in your response pertaining to effort made in this particular incident about giving the complainant an opportunity to provide the school informed consent to put this subject in front of his child .
      It is one thing if a child were to express on their own without any coercing or suggestion that they had confusion about their gender identity to a teacher or school district employee .That should always be addressed and discussed with the parents whom can then choose how to best help their child -that is their right as a parent.
      But to bring it up to unsolicited to children without parental consent is wrong just plain wrong and not in the spirit of any legal or professional obligations -in fact I find it very unprofessional and illegal.
      And using the Borderline and Uvalde school district tragedies in the context used herein is just plain inappropriate , it is simply a fear mongering attempt .
      The Parent that lodged a complaint is 100% within his rights as a parent to be upset and unhappy with your school district regarding this matter .
      Do you see any light now on the fact that enrollment in public schools is declining ?
      Parents have had enough of this type of thing and they are not going to take it anymore .
      Shame on you and your school district Sir .

  23. This religious pamphlet doesn’t present facts. It’s Joel Kilpatrick’s regurgitation of Rob McCoys religious fanaticism. Fear of everything that isn’t old, white or male.
    Sad.

  24. What a disgusting article. Anyone who takes issue with “You have the POWER TO CHOOSE to be KIND and INCLUDE others! ALL ARE WELCOME HERE! EVERYONE DESERVES TO FEEL WELCOME, CONNECTED, ACCEPTED, AND INCLUDED!” is the problem

  25. This article is absolute BULLSHIT. Stop printing lies. The right is so pathetic they have to lie about everything. You are all a bunch of anti American neo fascists.

  26. what was the point of this other than to spread hate and admit that you are against the schools theme
    ALL ARE WELCOME HERE! EVERYONE DESERVES TO FEEL WELCOME, CONNECTED, ACCEPTED, AND INCLUDED

    shame on you

  27. There needs to be a class action lawsuit against teachers doing thus. We have 2 in the schools, and even in pre-K they are pushing sexuality on young children. We are removing our kids from Ventura county schools as a direct result. Private school is expensive, but I prefer being a bit lighter in the wallet that our children being groomed by the schools to be preyed upon by sexual predators.
    Children lack the skills to effectively deal with this type of child abuse.

  28. As I was watching the NBA Finals this evening I came across this story in my news feed and a 2006 quote from none other than the Round Mound of Rebound Charles Barkley came to mind : “I was a Republican until they lost their minds”

    We have a similar situation here in Glendale with one of our current city council candidates recently.

    The current right wing/conservative hysterias, trans kids, book banning, gun worship , trump cult just to name a few – would have Goldwater and Reagan spinning in their graves. The modern GOP is McCarthyism 2.0. So sad.

    Vote Democrat .

    • The democrats that took so much money out of our paychecks that they have a $60,000,000,000 budget surplus while homelessness, cost of living, and crime have continued to increase? The democrats that refuse to secure the border and allow more of our children to be poisoned by the meth, fentanyl, and heroin flooding through the border? The same democrats that declared 90% of small businesses as non-essential but allowed mega corporations like Target, Home Depot, Best Buy, and Walmart to stay open? The same democrats that went out to dinner when we couldn’t? The ones that went to salons when we couldn’t? The democrats that only wore masks for photo-ops while our children wore them on playgrounds? I’m supposed to forget all those failures, all that hypocrisy, because they want to teach little kids about sexuality? Nah, I’m good.

  29. So thanks to this piece of “journalism” someone defaced Maple Elementary so that…our kids could feel safer??

  30. As is par for the course these days, we can observe people staking out extreme positions. These extremes may offer a kind of clarity that is easy to defend, but they are unhelpful to finding actual solutions.
    First, we must acknowledge the fact that California law requires all school staff to affirm a child’s stated gender identity and pronouns by using these along with any new name the student might have selected. Failure to do so will result in dismissal and possibly fines.
    I personally am in strong disagreement with most of transgenderism, finding that it is irreversibly damaging and destroying young lives, leaving its victims to be lifelong medical patients while an unscrupulous medical establishment medicates and then slices-and-dices them, leading to a higher rate of suicidal ideation.
    With that being said, I still maintain that the educator’s best choice under the circumstances is to affirm the child’s perceived identity since our state and federal governments are handling transgenderism so poorly. A lone teacher is not in a position to contribute anything positive to a student’s gender confusion when the rest of his/her environment is not interested in helping the student resolve his/her delusion to be in harmony with biological reality.
    In the specific case from the article, the teacher acted correctly by introducing the student’s new name and pronouns to the class and helping that student to be accepted. Perhaps reading a transgender book to the class was too much though.
    While our governments for whatever misguided reasons are promoting the mental illness of transgenderism, we must make sure the poor confused children here do not become victims of bullying of any kind but rather enjoy the dignity that every child deserves. We can only hope for the day when those in power realize their mistakes before transgenderism destroys countless more lives.
    And finally, those that would vandalize a school and scrawl hateful remarks on it are to be condemned without reservation. They will never be part of a meaningful solution.

  31. Okay, how do I cancel The Guardian? I’ve had enough. This publication is a waste of paper. Oh, wait, maybe we’ll have a use for it, if we run out of toilet tissue… A publication that willingly publishes such hate-promoting and highly biased articles will serve just that one practical purpose in my household… This is an awful article full of inflammatory rhetoric. The school district does not push a sexual agenda on children. Period. It doesn’t. The school district does promote kindness, inclusion, and acceptance. Shame on The Guardian and the author of this artical for speading such misinformation and ugliness.

  32. Godspeak is truly a hate group and nothing more. They have done nothing in this time of hate and division in our community and country to make any effort to try and unite. It’s their way or no way. This article brings danger to not only Maple And other schools as well but it could impact Godspeak as they continue to spread their hate towards the groups and people who do not have the same view. The continued efforts to divide our community By this hate group has to end.

  33. The fact that we are even having this conversation is absurd. I’m all for protecting ALL children from bullying, but teachers need to stick to science, math, social studies, reading, etc. Teachers do not need to be teaching children about sexuality at an early age, and I highly doubt most want to. Teaching children about sexuality, and more importantly, deciding when a child is ready for that SHOULD BE LEFT UP TO THE PARENTS. This idea that some teacher can just decide to show a 1st, or 2nd, or 3rd grader a book/video about sexual orientation in school is sick.

  34. This publication is disgusting. Trans kids are already at risk of suicide, and by acting as if they don’t exist it further puts them at risk. Shame on this “news” site. It’s nothing more than a platform for hate speech.

  35. It’s sad to see the reaction to all of this. The headline stating “Teacher Promotes Gender Confusion” is not a fair, impartial, or factual, it’s editorial. A student came to a teacher saying they were transgender and asking for the respect and support of using their new name. The teacher took the route of being supportive and announced that change to the class. Whether she was sensing or anticipating confusion and the potential for bullying from other students, she showed a video to educate them about what being transgender was. There was no ideology, no indoctrination, and clearly no grooming. The teacher didn’t initiate this, as student did.

    Clearly parents want more information on this ahead of time, the problem with telling parents everything that a student tells them is the risk of being beaten, or kicked out of the home (not really a risk for third graders, but still a concern). Look how this parent reacted over the fact that his kid was shown something ABOUT transgender people. Can you imagine the reaction if his child was trans or gay? It doesn’t seem like that would be a good environment for that child. As custodians of children, it can be important for them to think in terms of the safety of that child. They are just people though, going off of what the kids tells them, and the won’t get it right every time.

    As an aside, I love the people saying this guy who wouldn’t give his real name was being so brave. Just sweet irony there.

    There is a massive difference between supporting kids who say they are trans (or gay for that matter) then trying to ensure other kids are educated so they don’t make life hell for that child, and some organized plot to indoctrinate and groom children. Stop throwing gasoline on a match. Let’s talk about the protocols we would be comfortable with in introducing trans kids to other students, how to keep kids safe, and help parents who are afraid of these ideas to have meaningful, informed conversations with their children. There is a great deal of scientific evidence that proves there’s both a great deal of variation in gender biologically, as well as in a person’s internal sense and understanding of their identity.

    Remember, you can’t make someone gay, straight, trans, or cis. Conversion therapy has proven completely ineffective and very harmful in it’s attempts to “fix” people. Kids do and will have questions about their feelings of themselves and their bodies, it’s a natural part of growing up. Having understanding of the truth behind the many different iterations of gender that occur naturally and biologically, as well as how dysphoria presents, and how to have healthy conversations about it, will benefit us all greatly, and genuinely help us raise healthy, confident children. Some kids may benefit from some exploration to determine if they are trans, all kids will benefit from having confidence in who they are.

    It doesn’t help anyone to tell trans kids they are wrong or bad for being who they are any more than it would to try to convince kids they are trans or gay. Forcing people into a way of being that doesn’t fit with them hurts us all. Let’s drop the panic, the distrust, and the hatred, and sit down and have rational fact-based discussions from a place of understanding, stop the name calling, and dial back on the adrenaline people like Mr. “Monroe” are approaching this with. It’s not helping us solve any of this in a way that we benefit.

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