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After Supreme Court Ruling, School Board Ordered to Pay $1.5M to Parents Over LGBT Storytime
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In another win for parental rights, a school district over in Maryland was just ordered to pay $1.5 million to parents who were not allowed to pull their kids out of LGBTQ story time. And the backstory of this particular case is unusual to say the least. And so strap in, smash those like and subscribe buttons, and let's dive right into it. Rewinding the clock back to the year 2022. That was when the Montgomery County Board of Education, they decided to mix it up a little bit in regards to what they were going to be teaching kids in elementary school. Specifically, they issued this mandate here requiring school employees to find LGBTQ inclusive storybooks for the young kids, including titles that promoted things like gender transitions, pride parades, as well as same sex romantic relationships between young kids. Quote. A list of LGBT themed storybooks was added to the district's curriculum for for Pre kindergarten through fifth grade in November of 2022. The books included titles such as Pride Puppy, which describes what a child might see at a pride parade. What are your words? Which centers on a child whose pronouns change like the weather and love Violet, a story about a same sex playground romance. There was also another book called Jacob's Room to choose, which features a teacher convincing her class to support a gender free bathroom. So these are several of the examples of the kinds of books that were selected in this particular county for kindergarten through fifth grade. Now, as you would imagine, many parents weren't necessarily thrilled with this new development. However, at least initially, the parents were given the option to opt their kids out of being taught this material. The parents, they would be told about the books that were on the docket ahead of time, and they could choose whether or not their kids would be sent. Quote at the time, parents were promised they would be notified and could opt their children out when the storybooks were read. That practice was consistent with Maryland state law and the board's own policies, both of which contemplate parental notice and opt outs. But what eventually wound up happening was that so many of the parents were choosing to opt their kids out of this educational experience that by the next school year, the county no longer allowed anybody to do that. Quote without explanation, the board reversed course. Beginning with the 2023-2024 school year, it announced no further notice would be provided and and no opt outs tolerated. As to the storybooks, if parents did not like what was taught to their elementary school kids, their only choice was to send them to private school or to homeschool. Now, after this change was made, the local school board meetings they were packed with quite literally hundreds of religious parents, mostly Muslim, Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Christians in the area, who objected to the policy, saying that, for one, these teachings on sexuality conflicted with their faith, and. And that, secondly, elementary school kids were not mature enough to process that type of material. But the school board didn't really take that criticism well. And as a response, quote, board members publicly accused the parents of promoting hate and compared them to white supremacists and xenophobes. And so all that basically forced the parents to collectively file a lawsuit against the county. Here was how the lawyer representing the parents described the situation in an interview here with the Epoch Times. Quote, the first amendment has long been recognized to protect the right of parents to. To direct the religious education and upbringing of their children, and the government is not allowed to substantially interfere with that. And so, essentially, on the one hand, you had the local parents who were seeking the restoration of their right to both direct, as well as to protect their children's religious beliefs, while, on the other hand, you had the lawyers for the school. They were arguing that, for one, the parents could always discuss the storybook content at home with their kids after it was read to them at school. Secondly, the parents had the choice of to send their kids to private school if they could afford it. And that, on top of it, the LGBTQ storybooks, they were, quote, archetypal stories that touch on the same themes introduced to children in such classic books as Snow White, Cinderella, and Peter Pan. Now, this case eventually made it all the way up to the US Supreme Court, who ruled against the school district. Specifically, in a six to three split decision, you had Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, Sam Alito, J. John Roberts, Neil Gorsuch, as well as Clarence Thomas, all ruled in favor of the parents. Now, because this case involved the question of religious freedom, the courts applied what's known as strict scrutiny. We went through that in a previous episode. But basically, because this case involved a fundamental right, the US Supreme Court, they applied the highest standard, and they asked the following question, Is the policy of the county narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling government interest? The court found that it wasn't, and therefore they reversed the lower court decision. Writing for the majority, you had Justice Sam Alito write the. A government burdens the religious exercise of parents when it requires them to submit their children to instruction that poses a very real threat of undermining the religious beliefs and practices that the parents wish to instill. And a government cannot condition the benefit of free public education on parents Acceptance of such Instruction, which he then went on to say was exactly what was happening here in Montgomery County. Quote, the storybooks promoted by the board are clearly designed to present certain values and beliefs as things to be celebrated and certain contrary values and beliefs as things to be rejected. And the reason that he wrote that was because the school board, they weren't just teaching a new subject, as they claimed. Instead, the Supreme Court noted that the Montgomery County School board was very much pushing a certain viewpoint in their teachings. Quote, we cannot accept the school board's characterization of the LGBTQ inclusive instruction as mere exposure to objectionable ideas or as lessons in mutual respect. As we have explained, the storybooks unmistakably convey a particular viewpoint about same sex marriage and gender. And the board has specifically encouraged teachers to reinforce this viewpoint and to reprimand any children who disagree. That goes far beyond mere exposure. And as such, the US Supreme Court went ahead, they ruled in favor of the parents, and they issued a preliminary injunction and sending basically the case back down to the lower courts where the parents still had to jump through some legal hoops. And they did. And that ultimately culminated in what I mentioned at the top of the episode, a $1.5 million settlement in favor of the local parents. Quote, a Maryland school district that lost A recent US Supreme Court case will pay $1.5 million to parents who weren't allowed to opt their children out of LGBT story time. Now, that specific $1.5 million figure, it came directly from the lawyer who was representing the parents. The actual court order, it didn't mention a actual sum of money figure. You can see the court order up on your screen. It only specified that this money was for attorneys fees and costs and that it would be given to three specific plaintiff families, as well as Kids first, which is an unincorporated association of parents and teachers in the local area. Now, in terms of reactions, the winning side was obviously thrilled with the outcome. The lead attorney in the case representing the parents, he said this in a statement following. The public schools nationwide are on notice running roughshod over parents rights and religious freedom isn't just illegal, it's costly. This settlement enforces the Supreme Court's ruling and ensures parents, not government bureaucrats, have the final say in how their children are raised. It took tremendous courage for these parents to stand, stand up to the school board and take their case all the way to the Supreme Court. Their victory reshaped the law and ensured that generations of religious parents will be able to guide their children's upbringing according to their faith. On the flip side, however, the Montgomery County Board of Education. They weren't thrilled with how this all turned out. They did not give us here at the Epoch Times a comment when we reached out to them for the story. But in June of last year, when the Supreme Court issued their decision, they did put out a statement saying the following, quote, this decision complicates our work creating a welcoming, inclusive, and equitable school system. It also sends a chilling message to many valued members of our diverse community. And then lastly, aside from the moral victory and the monetary rewards, the local parents are now fully able to pull their kids out of LGBTQ instruction. And the parents in that area, they're reportedly being given these refrigerator magnets that list out all the instruction that's planned for the semester. And if they don't want it, they can just call ahead and have their children pulled out. And so, there you have it. If you'd like to read the full text of the settlement or the US Supreme Court ruling, I'll throw all that down into the description box below this video, which is, of course, that same description box right below those like and subscribe buttons, both of which I hope you've already smashed. But if for some reason you haven't, now is another opportunity. Smash them so that this video can be picked up by the algorithm and shared out to ever more people. Thank you so much for that. And then, until next time, I'm your host, Roman from the Epoch Times. Stay informed. Most importantly, stay free.