Attorney General Ken Paxton has released an opinion in response to Lt. Governor Dan Patrick’s opinion request regarding transgender guidelines adopted by the superintendent of Fort Worth ISD. Patrick asked whether the policy violated Chapter 26 of the Education Code or any other law, and whether Superintendent Ken Scribner had the authority to adopt the policy without a vote of the school board or an opportunity for public comment.
Summary of Attorney General Opinion:
Chapter 26 of the Education Code provides that parents must have access to all written records of a school district concerning their child, as well as full information regarding the child's school activities. Attempts to encourage a child to withhold information from his or her parents may be grounds for discipline. To the extent that the Transgender Student Guidelines adopted by the Fort Worth Independent School District superintendent limit parental access to information about their child and operate to encourage students to withhold information from parents contrary to the provisions in chapter 26, they violate state law.
Chapter 11 of the Education Code requires that boards of trustees adopt policies for the district, while superintendents implement those policies by developing administrative regulations. While a superintendent is authorized to recommend policies to be adopted by the board, chapter 11 requires that policy decisions, like those addressing parental involvement with students' gender identity choices, be addressed by the board of trustees prior to the development of any related administrative regulations.