California school principal asked to resign amid transgender athlete controversy – East Bay Times

More than 200 people attended an emotional Riverside school board meeting as the community clashed over transgender student rights and free speech on campus, while many called for Superintendent Renee Hill to resign.

Requests for Hill’s resignation at the Riverside Unified School District Board of Trustees meeting on Thursday, Dec. 19, stemmed from a reaction to a Nov. 20 lawsuit alleging the district violated students’ First Amendment rights and denied students fair and equal access to athletics. In the federal lawsuit, a student alleged she was replaced on her cross-country team by a transgender athlete.

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The suit alleges that students at Martin Luther King High School in Riverside opposed to the district’s actions wore T-shirts with the slogans “Save Girls’ Sports” and “It’s Common Sense.” XX ≠ XY,” and a school principal told them that this was the same as wearing Nazi swastikas in front of Jewish students.

The incident also sparked bullying attacks against transgender students in the district, members of pro-LGBTQ groups said.

During the meeting at Riverside Adult School, a crowd chanting “Leave our children alone” could be heard outside. The auditorium board room was sparsely filled as the majority of the crowd was outside or in overflow rooms before coming to address the board.

Assemblymembers Bill Essayli, R-Corona, and Leticia Castillo, R-Corona, were present and both called for Hill’s resignation. They alleged the district failed to handle the incident properly and violated the free speech and other rights of female athletes.

Castillo criticized King administrators’ alleged comment about the T-shirts.

“Having this attack come from the superintendent is the greatest violation of all, which is why I am calling for the immediate resignation of Superintendent Renee Hill,” said Castillo, a Republican elected in the Nov. 5 election.

Essayli said this is not the first time the district has encountered this type of problem.

“I would say what the school district is doing here is treating trans athletes with privileges that are not afforded to girls,” Essayli said. “…A girl spoke out, she was wearing this T-shirt and she was compared to the Nazis.”

Some members of the public called for Hill’s resignation and expressed concerns that administrators were protecting the district’s young women.

One of them, Daniel Silvas, said: “I urge the board to protect girls, keep boys out of girls’ locker rooms, and keep boys out of girls’ sports.” Stop playing politics, start protecting.

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Hill has not publicly addressed the issue and could not be reached for comment on Friday, December 20. But she was supported by Regina Patton Stell, president of the Riverside chapter of the NCAAP.

Stell said as a former educator, she understands how difficult the job can be. She said she supports Hill and the way the district has handled the issue.

Parents and others also spoke out in support of the district’s actions and said school officials must protect a marginalized community.

“I’m here to speak in support of each and every one of you here tonight,” said district parent Selena Rogers. “Sometimes things are hard and the best thing we can do is stand up for those who don’t have a voice.”

The lawsuit identifies Ryan Starling, Daniel Slavin and Cynthia Slavin as plaintiffs and their daughters, identified as 15-year-old “KS” and 16-year-old “TS”, as ninth- and 11th-grade athletes on the cross country track in King. team, with TS being team captain.

The suit alleges that TS was “ousted” from a competitive spot at October’s Mt. SAC Cross Country Invitational “to make room for a biological male transgender athlete who did not regularly attend practices and did not failed to meet many of the team’s academic eligibility qualifications.

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Starling addressed the board, alleging that the student in question only attended 13 of 74 practices, while her daughter was told she had to be present at every practice.

“They benefited from a preferential practice and that’s why we are here and the administration knew about it. I sent emails to all of you, 63 of them,” Starling said during the meeting.

In a press release on Wednesday, December 18, the Rainbow Pride Youth Alliance, IE LGBTQ+ Center, OurSchools USA and Riverside Stands Against Bullying said transgender students at King High were targets of bullying on social media and on campus from their teammates as well as what they called extremist groups.

“We are extremely concerned about these well-funded and highly coordinated efforts to target and harass individual LGBTQ+ students as well as school administrators who follow state law,” the statement said.

Daisy Gardiner of OurSchools USA, an Inland Empire-based nonprofit group that advocates for educational equality, read a statement from a parent of a transgender student targeted by bullying at King High . The parent, who has not been named, did not feel safe enough to attend the meeting, Gardiner said.

“These past few months have been heartbreaking for our family and have devastated others in the LGBTQ community,” the parent wrote. “These kids matter, it’s not about saving girls’ sport. It has become a campaign of intimidation targeting the most marginalized community.