A Colorado elementary school’s private emails show secret plans to defy parents’ wishes on transitioning their child's gender.
Emails posted on Twitter by the senior fellow with Independent Women's Forum Nicole Solas show an assistant principal in the Poudre School District (PSD) inquired how to address a student whose parents instructed school staff to not use the student’s preferred gender pronouns.
"Emails reveal @Poudreschools started secretly transitioning K-5 students last year by using students' preferred names & pronouns at school but legal names with parents," Solas tweeted along with a long thread of images of documents.
According to the tweets, Assistant Principal Amanda Pawelski at Laurel Elementary School sent an email looking for guidance on whether to use a student’s preferred pronouns when their parents told staff directly not to call the student by those pronouns.
"I feel very strongly about the student but have heard that we legally have to follow the parents’ direction due to the age of the child (elementary school). I’ve also heard that this is different in secondary schools due to legal determination ages," Pawelski wrote in the email.
"Then tonight I was asked about this in the ABCs training, and I was told it makes no difference if elementary or secondary and that the law doesn’t make that distinction that we should follow the student, not the parents," Pawelski said in the email sent to PSD Chief Equity and Academic Officer Marlena Gross-Taylor.
She continued, "I’d like to be able to have a more definitive answer than I’ve experienced and want to know how to direct my teachers as well. We want to support the student. We also want to be covered legally."
Gross-Taylor forwarded the email to PSD LGBTQIA+ Coordinator Shayna Seitchik and someone with the email handle Darcie Votipka.
WASHINGTON TEACHER SAYS SCHOOLS MUST DO MORE TO KEEP STUDENTS' INFO
SECRET FROM 'CHRISTO-FASCIST' PARENTS
"Yes, of course!" Votipka responded. "I will confer with Shayna."
In an email addressed to Gross-Taylor, she is informed about a meeting that Votipka and Seitchik had to discuss the matter.
"Just to keep you in the loop, Darcie and I met to discuss this and both agree that the school should use the student’s affirming name and pronouns at school and use their legal name and corresponding pronouns when talking with the family until they are supportive of the student’s new name and pronouns," Seitchik said.
Seitchik also cited "resources" from the American Civil Liberties Union, the U.S. Department of Education and others.
Gross-Taylor responded to Pawelski saying that schools should use the student’s affirming name and pronouns at school and use their legal name and corresponding pronouns when talking with the family until they are supportive of the student’s new name and pronouns.
Gross-Taylor also added a link to "guidance on the issue as well."
Fox News Digital reached out to the Poudre School District for a response but did not immediately get a response. PDS operates in Fort Collins, Colorado, and serves over 30,000 students.
"Teaching elementary school-aged children to lead double lives and keep secrets from their parents is a destabilizing assault on children that can impact them for the rest of their lives," Solas told Fox News Digital.
Parents across the country are paying closer attention to school boards by challenging progressive curricula and contesting books they deem inappropriate.
The issue of education has become a top concern among voters. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, school board meetings have oftentimes become battlegrounds between parents and school board officials, reigniting the debate over how much control parents should have over their children's education.
