In the case Mahmoud vs Taylor, the Supreme Court ruled in June that  schools are now required to provide families with advance notice and opportunity to opt out of any classroom lessons with material that could conflict with religious beliefs. The case primarily involved the instruction of elementary age kids because of their impressionable nature, but Poway Unified School district decided to apply this policy district wide.  

The recent verdict is a result of a lawsuit against a Maryland school district for its failure to allow opt-outs of LGBTQ+ content in instruction. According to Oyez, an online archive of Supreme Court cases, parents of students at Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) were allowed to opt their child out of instruction with newly approved storybooks containing LGBTQ+ content if it interfered with religious teachings. Among these books is a children’s novel titled, “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding,” presents same-sex marriage as a joyous occasion, a view that the parents who petitioned this case believe is in conflict with the values they want to instill in their children. However, less than a year later, MCPS’s opt-out policy was reversed due to concerns of lower attendance, classroom disruptions, and stigmatization of the LGBTQ+ community among students. Consequently, a group of parents have sued the Montgomery County Board of Education for this reversal, not seeking to remove such books from the curriculum but rather to have a say in what their children are exposed to. 

Following the ruling, schools are left with little instruction or guidelines for how they are meant to fulfill these notification and opt-out requirements. Principal Ernest Remillard said Poway Unified decided to communicate with parents via a district-wide email last August. That email included an opt-out letter that parents could then print out and bring to their school’s office.  

If students whose parents have opted them out of being exposed to LGBTQ+ topics are in a class where these topics are present, the teacher will provide an alternate assignment. This mainly applies to humanities and history classes because math or science classes are less likely to contain the aforementioned topics. As of last week, fewer than 10 families at Westview have opted their children out.

“We don’t get a whole lot of details on the why,” Remillard said. “We did reach out to families for just some clarity because things were pretty vague. But we don’t ask, ‘Is it a religious piece?’ or things like that. Some of our curriculums are pretty broad, so we want to make sure that we’re best supporting what the families’ wishes are.” 

The California Department of Education confirmed that this ruling does not conflict with pre-existing protections for LGBTQ+ individuals against discrimination and harassment. California law prohibits discrimination against any groups in curriculums, such as groups categorized by their ethnicities, disabilities, nationalities, sexual identities and genders. Remillard said PUSD’s recent strides in expanding curricula to be more inclusive will not be set back.

“We’ve made a lot of progress in the last 5-10 years as a district to bring in more diverse authors and topics,” Remillard said. “So it’s not about moving backwards from that. It’s more about being mindful of the student who may need an alternate assignment. It’s not saying, ‘Hey, we’re not gonna teach this anymore.’ We really want to continue to grow our students and shine light on different perspectives.”