Three judges heard oral arguments Tuesday from attorneys for four school districts that were sued by the state last year for amending or replacing Policy 5756 to require that parents be notified by staff if their children requested, among other things, to be called by new pronouns, be identified by a different gender or change their names.
“The underlying legal issue here is parental notification,” said Bruce Padula, attorney for Middletown Township Board of Education and Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District.
Hanover Township resident and former school board member Barbara Eames was among the attendees at the court hearing in Newark to support her district’s attempt to ditch Policy 5756, which protects the rights of transgender students.
“This is not about math, it is not about learning to read, it’s indoctrination,” Eames said.
The state has argued the amended policies discriminate against transgender students, which is illegal under state law.
The judges said they will issue a written opinion “in due course.”
