Cassie Schmidt addressed school board members in a North Dakota district who said they would not "openly out" kids even though a new state law says they have to. Schmidt has a history of fighting back for their parents.
She spoke out against the Fargo, North Dakota school board on behalf of the "Let Parents Decide That" Facebook group, which was formed in response to allegations that the board had and would continue to hide students' gender identities from their families.
"Whose kids are these? Do they belong to you as a school board? ... There is no possible way for each teacher to know every kid as intimately as their parents do," she told the board last week.
Is North Dakota Waving the Social Justice Flag To Distract From Real Problems?
During an interview with Fox News, Schmidt discussed her work as an advocate for parental rights in her local community and the efforts of a Facebook group she co-founded to oppose mask mandates during the COVID pandemic of 2021. Over 2,000 people have joined in the last two years.
Schmidt claims that it has tackled various major education concerns in the two years since the organization's founding. These include school violence in North Dakota and the latest topic of gender identity concealing that has recently attracted public attention.
She said it is upsetting when they raise social justice flags instead of addressing genuine concerns.
Unfortunately, Schmidt did note that parents' attempts to engage with state authorities to fight the problem have mostly been fruitless. Those officials have only kicked the can of issues back down to the local level.
"That is really concerning, and it should be concerning for people on both sides of this LGBTQ issue, whether you're for it or against it. We should be able to come together and understand that the parent makes the decisions for the child and that protecting kids does not mean hiding information from parents," Schmidt stated.
She also said the board had a pattern of dismissing parent concerns and never acting on them.
She referred back to Dr. Gandhi's comments on safeguarding transgender kids and the high suicide rates among transgender adolescents. Schmidt argued that students' parents should be informed if there is any concern that their child's mental health is deteriorating due to factors outside of their control.
School District to Hide Pupils' Gender Identities From Parents Against State Law
Republican Governor Doug Burgum signed HB1522 into law in North Dakota in May, as previously reported by KATV. The next day, Superintendent Dr. Rupak Gandhi remarked at a meeting: "We will not openly out any student because of one law if we know that that's going to cause harm to that child."
HB1522 makes it illegal for school districts to adopt pronoun rules and for school boards or instructors to keep a legal guardian in the dark about a student's transgender identity.
Transgender bathroom policies and other essential LGBTQ+ challenges are also addressed in the statute.
