How to Opt-Out of LA Unified’s National Coming Out Day Curriculum — October 8–13, 2023
And LAUSD’s entire OUT for Safe Schools and Queer All Year instruction
“The state recognizes that while parents/legal guardians overwhelmingly support medically accurate and comprehensive sex education, they have the ultimate responsibility for imparting values regarding human sexuality to their children.” — Los Angeles Unified School District Parent Student Handbook 2023–2024, Page 5
Are you a parent concerned with the content of Los Angeles Unified School District’s gender identity curriculum? Would you like to exclude your children from this instruction? You have the right to do so.
Did you know LAUSD published a Queer All School Year Calendar in the 2022–2023 school year, in which they outlined their “Queer and Trans-Affirming School Calendar” and activities by month?
This school year LAUSD is celebrating National Coming Out Day Week of Action from October 9–13. They quietly published curriculum “toolkits” for elementary and secondary schools.
Rainbow Club creation at elementary schools was the agenda item for the month of August. Rainbow clubs meet weekly for ten weeks, from September through November.
Opt-Out Letter Template in Spanish
We created this letter template to request to have your child “opt-out” of this curriculum, including the applicable citations from the California Education Code (also reference list below).
This template is for informational purposes only and must not to be relied upon as legal advice. This template does not constitute a recommendation to any parent or guardian. Any parent or guardian should consult with his or her independent advisors as to legal or other matters relevant to the suitability of all or any part of this template.
CA EDC 51101
(a) — Except as provided in subdivision (d), the parents and guardians of pupils enrolled in public schools have the right and should have the opportunity, as mutually supportive and respectful partners in the education of their children within the public schools, to be informed by the school, and to participate in the education of their children, as follows:
(8) To examine the curriculum materials of the class or classes in which their child is enrolled.
(13) To receive information about any psychological testing the school does involving their child and to deny permission to give the test.
(15) To question anything in their child’s record that the parent feels is inaccurate or misleading or is an invasion of privacy and to receive a response from the school.
(b) In addition to the rights described in subdivision (a), parents and guardians of pupils, including those parents and guardians whose primary language is not English, shall have the opportunity to work together in a mutually supportive and respectful partnership with schools, and to help their children succeed in school. Each governing board of a school district shall develop jointly with parents and guardians, and shall adopt, a policy that outlines the manner in which parents or guardians of pupils, school staff, and pupils may share the responsibility for continuing the intellectual, physical, emotional, and social development and well-being of pupils at each schoolsite. The policy shall include, but is not necessarily limited to, the following:
(3) The manner in which the parents and guardians of pupils may support the learning environment of their children, including, but not limited to, the following:
(G) Participating, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their own child or the total school program.
California Healthy Youth Act (51930–51939)
CA EDC 51932
(a) — This chapter does not apply to description or illustration of human reproductive organs that may appear in a textbook, adopted pursuant to law, if the textbook does not include other elements of comprehensive sexual health education or HIV prevention education as defined in Section 51931.
(b) — This chapter does not apply to instruction, materials, presentations, or programming that discuss gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, discrimination, harassment, bullying, intimidation, relationships, or family and do not discuss human reproductive organs and their functions.
CA EDC 51938
(a) — A parent or guardian of a pupil has the right to excuse their child from all or part of comprehensive sexual education, HIV prevention education, and assessments related to that education through a passive (“opt-out’) process. A school district shall not require active parental consent (“opt-in”) for comprehensive sexual health education and HIV prevention education.
CA EDC 51939
(a) — A pupil may not attend any class in comprehensive sexual health education or HIV prevention education, or participate in any anonymous, voluntary, and confidential test, questionnaire, or survey on pupil health behaviors and risks, if the school has received a written request from the pupil’s parent or guardian excusing the pupil from participation.
(b) — A pupil may not be subject to disciplinary action, academic penalty, or other sanction if the pupil’s parent or guardian declines to permit the pupil to receive comprehensive sexual health education or HIV prevention education or to participate in anonymous, voluntary, and confidential tests, questionnaires, or surveys on pupil health behaviors and risks.
(c) — While comprehensive sexual health education, HIV prevention education, or anonymous, voluntary, and confidential test, questionnaire, or survey on pupil health behaviors and risks is being administered, an alternative educational activity shall be made available to pupils whose parents or guardians have requested that they not receive the instruction or participate in the test, questionnaire, or survey.
CA EDC 51513
No test, questionnaire, survey, or examination containing any questions about the pupil’s personal beliefs or practices in sex, family life, morality, and religion, or any questions about the pupil’s parents’ or guardians’ beliefs and practices in sex, family life, morality, and religion, shall be administered to any pupil in kindergarten or grades 1 to 12, inclusive, unless the parent or guardian of the pupil is notified in writing that this test, questionnaire, survey, or examination is to be administered and the parent or guardian of the pupil gives written permission for the pupil to take this test, questionnaire, survey, or examination.
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