The Supreme Court did not hear an appeal from a group of parents on Monday. The parents said that their children’s school district in the Washington, DC, suburbs was hiding transgender support plans.
Three parents in Maryland sued the Montgomery Country school district over rules that were put in place in 2020 that let schools make support plans for transgender students and “respect the students’ wishes to keep certain information confidential.”
The Supreme Court made a decision without giving a reason. This upheld an appeals court’s decision that the parents couldn’t fight because they couldn’t prove that the plans were made for their children. In a number of cases, the high court has avoided talking about transgender students’ rights at school, often keeping lower court decisions that supported trans students in place.
“Parents and school districts from Maine to California are upset about this case on the merits,” the parents who sued over the policy told the justices in their appeal last year. It’s important for parents, kids, and public schools that this problem is dealt with and fixed right away.
The rules were made by the school district to “ensure a safe and respectful school environment” for all the kids. The school stated that just because a student tells a teacher or official something, that person is not allowed to share that information with other people.
The 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals and a federal district court both agreed with the school, but they did so for different reasons. The parents could not prove that they were hurt in a way that allowed them to sue, the appeals court said.
The Virginia school district asked the Supreme Court three years ago if schools could stop transgender students from using the bathroom that matches their gender identity. The Supreme Court said no to the case. A lower court’s decision against those bans was upheld by that decision. The court turned down West Virginia’s request last year to let it apply a state law that says transgender girls and women can’t play on public school sports teams.