Ending Censorship of Public School Curriculum by Temecula School Board

Appellate Court Blocks Curriculum Censorship

The Court of Appeal reversed the lower court’s denial of students and teachers’ request for a preliminary injunction preventing the Temecula Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees from enforcing its ban on teaching “Critical Race Theory and other similar frameworks.” 

OPINION

Appellate Filing and Amicus Briefs Supporting Plaintiffs-Appellants

Plaintiffs-Appellants’ Reply Brief

Latino Justice, et al. Amicus brief in support of plaintiffs-Appellants

ACLU of southern California, et al. amicus brief In Support Of plaintiffs-Appellants

California teachers association, et al. Amicus Brief in support of plaintiffs-Appellants

ca attorney general AMICUS brief IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS-APPELLANTS

Penguin Random House, et al. Amicus Brief in Support of Plaintiffs-Appellants

Plaintiffs Appeal Order Denying Preliminary Injunction

Plaintiffs filed an appeal challenging the Superior Court’s order denying their motion for a preliminary injunction.

Appellants’ Opening Brief

Court Denies Defendants’ Demurrer and Anti-SLAPP Motions

Judge Keen indicated that he will allow the case of Mae M. v. Komrosky to go forward, confirming that Plaintiffs have made viable challenges to the School Board’s policies under California law.

Tentative ruling (pages 4-20)

Notice of Ruling on Motion for Preliminary Injunction

ACLU SoCal and First Amendment Coalition AMICUS Brief in support of plaintiffs

Plaintiffs’ Opposition to Defendants’ Demurrer

Plaintiffs’ Opposition to Defendants’ Anti-SLAPP Motion

World’s Largest Trade Book Publisher, Writers’ Associations, First Amendment Advocacy Groups File Amicus Brief in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction

Penguin Random House, The Authors Guild, First Amendment Coalition, The Freedom to Read Foundation, PEN America, and Freedom to Learn Advocates have filed an amicus brief in support of Plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction, stating: “Young readers cannot expand their intellectual horizons if the only speech allowed in books is that which aligns with the views of government authorities. In a democracy, the government can contest ideas, but it cannot seek to censor them. State censorship—no matter the political cause behind it—quells free thinking. Temecula Valley Unified School District’s suppression of books, which is motivated by government officials’ disagreement with the views expressed in the books, violates the First Amendment.”

Penguin random house, et al. Amicus Brief in support of plaintiffs

ACLU Foundations File Amicus Brief in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction

The ACLU Foundation of Southern California and the ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed an amicus brief in support of Plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction, stating “California law requires public schools to protect transgender and gender non-conforming students from discrimination and harassment and respect their privacy. The policy challenged here does just the opposite, impairing students’ ability to express themselves authentically at school and seeking to stigmatize transgender identities. The law, research, and student testimonies all make clear there is no place in California public schools for policies that put the safety and welfare of students at risk. Plaintiffs’ interest in ensuring transgender and gender non-conforming students are provided a safe and supportive education environment free of hostility and discrimination is an urgent one. Failure to grant a preliminary injunction in this case will result in significant and irreparable harm to TVUSD’s transgender and gender non-conforming students.”

ACLU amicus brief in Support of Plaintiffs

CA Attorney General Files Amicus Brief in Support of Temecula Students

California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed an amicus brief supporting a challenge by teachers, students, and parents to two Temecula School Board policies that violate students’ constitutional and statutory rights. TVUSD Board Resolution 21 purportedly prohibits the teaching of “Critical Race Theory,” and it includes sweeping language that would censor, for example, Native American history and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Board Policy 5020.01 compromises students’ safety, well-being, and privacy, and violates their equal protection rights, by mandating the forced outing of transgender and gender-nonconforming students without their consent and even when doing so would put them at risk of harm. Read the California Attorney General’s press release here.

CA Attorney General Amicus Brief in support of plaintiffs

Plaintiffs File Motion for Preliminary Injunction and Fact/Expert Declarations

Plaintiffs filed a motion for preliminary injunction seeking to bar enforcement of school board policies that censor state-mandated curriculum and require teachers to “out” LGBTQ students to their parents, regardless of potential harms the students may face at home. The filing is supported by 12 preeminent experts in the fields of education and health.

Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Plaintiffs motion FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

Fact Declaration of Rachel Dennis

Fact Declaration of Amy Eytchison

Fact Declaration of Katrina Miles

Fact Declaration of Dawn Sibby

Fact Declaration of Jennifer Scharf

Fact Declaration of Gwen S.

Fact Declaration of Mae M.

Fact Declaration of Carson L.

Fact Declaration of Susan C.

Fact Declaration of Rachel P.

Fact Declaration of Inez B.

Fact Declaration of Edgar Diaz

Expert Declaration of Rita Kohli and Marcos Pizarro

Expert Declaration of Sabra Katz-Wise and Sari Reisner

Expert Declaration of Tyrone Howard

Expert Declaration of Thomas Dee

Expert Declaration of Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Expert Declaration of Prudence Carter

Expert Declaration of Uma Jayakumar

Expert Declaration of Jeremy Goldbach

Expert Declaration of Mary Helen Immordino-Yang

Expert Declaration of John Rogers

Plaintiffs File Amended Complaint

Since the filing of our lawsuit, the Board has intensified its attacks on LGBTQ students. A week into the school year, the Board passed a coercive outing policy that targets students who identify as transgender or gender nonconforming. The policy requires TVUSD teachers and staff to out transgender and gender nonconforming students to their parents or guardians, regardless of whether students consent, and it mandates the official documentation of these forced disclosures.

First Amended Complaint

Plaintiffs File Complaint

Students, parents, and individual teachers filed suit against the Board of Trustees of the Temecula Valley Unified School District over the enactment of its resolution banning the teaching of concepts with which Board members disagree. The suit is a first-of-its-kind case in California and seeks to invalidate the unconstitutional resolution in Temecula, creating a legal precedent that affirms students’ right to comprehensive, fact-based education in California’s K–12 public schools.

Complaint