Parents Rights Petition
|
| ||||
If this is of interest to you and others of your school district, download the file, add the formal name for your school district and town. Print it out and start gathering signatures. In Vermont it requires 5% of the registered town voters to sign the petition. Bring it to the selectboard and it will need to provide a forum for discussion and a vote. If you want it on the Town Meeting Ballot it needs to be submitted by Jan. 17, 2025. Getting it on the school ballot would have more legal clout, but most Vermont school boards wouldn't touch this, as they have been groomed to promote issues that will bring division into the state/community/and even family unit. Circulating this will help promote awareness that is needed to help bridge these divides. Bring peaceable dynamics back to our communities.
WHEREAS the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution provides that parents have a fundamental right to direct the upbringing and education of their children*;
WE THEREFORE PETITION the _____________________ to adopt the following Guiding Principles on the Respect of Parental Rights, to be applied to all policies and procedures of the district and its schools beginning in the 2024-2025 school year:
1. Parents are their children’s primary caregivers. Teachers, administrators, and other school personnel are required to affirm that parents are primarily responsible for their children’s education and health, as well as their moral and religious upbringing. School officials must inform parents within 24 hours of any incident involving their child at school.
2. Children should be protected from discrimination, harassment and bullying. No student should be compelled to affirm or profess any ideology—e.g., such as suggested by flying any flag other than the United States and Vermont flags—especially any ideological belief that violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Teachers, students, or anyone else within the school must not treat students differently because of race, ethnicity, sex, personal values, or religious beliefs. Teachers and students must never be compelled to profess that they are guilty of racism based on their own race or ethnicity. Parents have rights to know the gender identity the child is using in the school and ask school officials to change course if warranted.
3. Barring a medical emergency in which a parent cannot be reached, school employees are prohibited from administering medical care or providing counseling to students under age 18 without parental permission. They may not administer injections or vaccines without parental approval. Teachers and administrators cannot withhold information from parents about a student’s decision to assume a different gender.
4. Parents—and taxpayers—have a right to know what educators are teaching their children. This includes materials on DEI, SEL, CRT, transgender, racial and sex education. Parents have a right to view all teaching materials that are utilized. This should include easy access to information on books on the library and classroom shelves and these should not include anything with pornographic content. Parents should not have to travel to district headquarters or schools to view them. The district should post all materials online to provide access to parents. School officials should inform parents, in advance, of all outside organizations that make presentations or provide materials for students. School administration shall honor and have opt out forms available if parents have religious, ethical or medical concerns for their child’s educational wellbeing – this may include gender and sex education, patriotic events, and racial training.
Terms • The term “parent” or “parents” shall mean “any parent, guardian, legal custodian, or other person having control or charge of a child.” • The term “medical emergency” shall mean “a situation in which the condition of the student or sudden change in medical status requires immediate action – e.g. head injury, shock, respiratory distress.” * As the U.S. Supreme Court has explained in Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57, 65 (2000) (this right is “perhaps the oldest of the fundamental liberty interests recognized by this Court.”); Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205, 232 (1972) (“This primary role of the parents in the upbringing of their children is now established beyond debate”); Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U.S. 510, 534-35 (1925) (the state may not interfere with “the liberty of parents and guardians to direct the upbringing and education of children under their control.”)
WHEREAS the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution provides that parents have a fundamental right to direct the upbringing and education of their children*;
WE THEREFORE PETITION the _____________________ to adopt the following Guiding Principles on the Respect of Parental Rights, to be applied to all policies and procedures of the district and its schools beginning in the 2024-2025 school year:
1. Parents are their children’s primary caregivers. Teachers, administrators, and other school personnel are required to affirm that parents are primarily responsible for their children’s education and health, as well as their moral and religious upbringing. School officials must inform parents within 24 hours of any incident involving their child at school.
2. Children should be protected from discrimination, harassment and bullying. No student should be compelled to affirm or profess any ideology—e.g., such as suggested by flying any flag other than the United States and Vermont flags—especially any ideological belief that violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Teachers, students, or anyone else within the school must not treat students differently because of race, ethnicity, sex, personal values, or religious beliefs. Teachers and students must never be compelled to profess that they are guilty of racism based on their own race or ethnicity. Parents have rights to know the gender identity the child is using in the school and ask school officials to change course if warranted.
3. Barring a medical emergency in which a parent cannot be reached, school employees are prohibited from administering medical care or providing counseling to students under age 18 without parental permission. They may not administer injections or vaccines without parental approval. Teachers and administrators cannot withhold information from parents about a student’s decision to assume a different gender.
4. Parents—and taxpayers—have a right to know what educators are teaching their children. This includes materials on DEI, SEL, CRT, transgender, racial and sex education. Parents have a right to view all teaching materials that are utilized. This should include easy access to information on books on the library and classroom shelves and these should not include anything with pornographic content. Parents should not have to travel to district headquarters or schools to view them. The district should post all materials online to provide access to parents. School officials should inform parents, in advance, of all outside organizations that make presentations or provide materials for students. School administration shall honor and have opt out forms available if parents have religious, ethical or medical concerns for their child’s educational wellbeing – this may include gender and sex education, patriotic events, and racial training.
Terms • The term “parent” or “parents” shall mean “any parent, guardian, legal custodian, or other person having control or charge of a child.” • The term “medical emergency” shall mean “a situation in which the condition of the student or sudden change in medical status requires immediate action – e.g. head injury, shock, respiratory distress.” * As the U.S. Supreme Court has explained in Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57, 65 (2000) (this right is “perhaps the oldest of the fundamental liberty interests recognized by this Court.”); Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205, 232 (1972) (“This primary role of the parents in the upbringing of their children is now established beyond debate”); Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U.S. 510, 534-35 (1925) (the state may not interfere with “the liberty of parents and guardians to direct the upbringing and education of children under their control.”)
| parents_rights_petition_25.docx |