Chino Valley Unified’s Legal Bill Tripled After Transgender Outing Policy Implemented

From The Sacramento Bee

The Chino Valley Unified School District board’s decision to enact a policy of outing transgender students to their parents has proved to be an expensive one.

The district’s legal fees to the firm Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo more than tripled between July (when the school board voted to enact the policy requiring school staff to notify parents if their child uses a different name or pronouns while at school) and August (when Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a civil rights investigation into the district that led to a lawsuit).

A San Bernardino County Superior Court judge has put most of the policy on pause while the legal challenge goes on. According to public records, shared by opposition group Our Schools USA, the district paid the law firm $30,903 in July, but then $104,867 in August and $54,988 in September. That is in addition to more than $307,000 for the 2022-23 academic year. The board voted Sept. 11 to retain conservative legal group Liberty Justice Center to represent them pro bono in the state lawsuit.

The contract stipulates that Liberty Justice Center will not be liable in the event that the school district is ordered to pay damages, legal fees or costs. In a statement, Liberty Justice Center Senior Counsel Emily Rae said that her organization provides all legal services for free, “so Chino Valley will never receive a bill.”

Rae said that Bonta’s lawsuit forced the school district to seek legal counsel. “They have every right to defend themselves and their families, and the Attorney General should not act like a bully with impunity. The Constitution, common sense and public opinion are on our side including 84% of California voters who support such a policy. We will continue to defend all those he unfairly attacks,” Rae said.

Despite retaining the Liberty Justice Center’s services, the district continues to rely on Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo for legal representation in the case, according to Our Schools USA.

A spokesman for the firm referred The Bee to the school district for any comment.

School Board President Sonja Shaw told KCAL in an interview that the district “won’t pay a dime” to defend the policy. Shaw has gone on to tell other school boards to take up the fight as well, saying that the Liberty Justice Center will represent them free of charge.

In an email to The Bee, Shaw said that the Liberty Justice Center was retained in mid-September, after the August payments. “LJC is doing this for absolutely free and we are not paying them a dollar. School Boards always have local counsel for a variety of issues. Additionally, maybe the Attorney General of California shouldn’t be suing taxpayers and school districts who pass policies by duly elected officials,” Shaw wrote.

In a statement, Our Schools USA co-founder Kristi Hirst accused Shaw of putting her own personal gain against the needs of people she’s elected to serve. “Between CVUSD wasting money on lawsuits before, the forced outing policy that just lost in court, and Shaw inviting another lawsuit with the State of California with her book banning proposal, it’s clear this board is determined to squander significant taxpayer dollars on not educating our children once again,” Hirst said.