The School District of the Chathams has settled a federal lawsuit over its transgender student privacy policy. The Board of Education approved the settlement 7-0 on Oct. 12. Moms for Liberty, a political organization considered by many to be anti-LGBTQ and focused on parental rights, filed the lawsuit on behalf of two anonymous members and their daughters. They attend an elementary school in the Morris County district.
Under the agreement, the district will not readopt the policy, known as Policy 5145.7, or a derivative policy unless required by law. Adopted in January 2024, Policy 5145.7 allowed students to use their chosen name and pronouns at school and required staff to keep students’ transgender status confidential.
The complaint described the parents as practicing Christians and argued that the policy interfered with their constitutional right to direct their children’s religious and moral upbringing. It does not claim either child is transgender or has asked to use a different name, pronoun or gender identity at school.
Previously, Policy 5145.7 allowed students to use facilities that matched their gender identity when feasible. It gave school counselors authority to assess “whether, and to what extent, parents/guardians can be involved” when students requested to be addressed differently.
Represented by the conservative law firm The Thomas More Society, Moms for Liberty first sent the district a letter demanding that it rescind the policy in May. After receiving no reply, the organization filed the lawsuit not long after on Aug. 25 in the U.S. District Court in Newark.
The complaint sought to bar the district from enforcing the policy as written, require advanced parental notice when students came out as gender-nonconforming, and give parents the option to opt their children out before any social transition took place. It also sought to prevent disciplinary action against students who declined to use a classmate’s chosen name or pronouns.
The lawsuit relied heavily on Mirabelli v. Bonta, an ongoing California case challenging school policies that allow students to use their chosen names and pronouns without first informing their families. The parents in that case argued that the policies violated their constitutional rights to direct their children’s religious and moral upbringing.
On March 2, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated an appeals court’s stay of a lower-court injunction in Mirabelli v. Bonta as it applied to the parent plaintiffs. The injunction was allowed to remain in effect for those parents while the appeal continues. The Court has not issued a final ruling on the underlying constitutional claims in the case.
The conservative Thomas More Society cited the Mirabelli case in arguing that policies protecting the privacy of a students’ gender identity from disclosure to parents violate parental constitutional rights. The firm also represents the parents in that California case.
The Chathams district initially resisted the lawsuit. At a board meeting in June, Board President Ann Ciccarelli said the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Mirabelli v. Bonta “is not binding on public school districts in New Jersey.”
During a Sept. 14 meeting, the Board of Education replaced its policy manual with mandatory policies from a new provider. The new manual did not include Policy 5145.7. At the meeting, Board Vice President Susan Ross said the policy “is an optional policy provided by the New Jersey School Board Association.” She added it was “optional and will not be included in the new policy catalog.”
The district had already removed the policy from its catalog and agreed not to readopt the “optional policy (or a derivative policy involving 5756)” unless state or federal law required it. The district also agreed to continue complying with state and federal law, including the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination and applicable Supreme Court precedent concerning parental rights.
The settlement does not require the Chathams schools to notify parents when students come out as gender-nonconforming. It also does not prohibit the district from taking disciplinary action against students who refuse to use another student’s chosen name or pronouns.
A separate New Jersey legal dispute involving three Monmouth County school districts also addressed parental notification policies. On Feb. 10, 2025, the state Superior Court Appellate Division upheld preliminary injunctions preventing the Middletown, Manalapan-Englishtown and Marlboro school districts from implementing amended policies concerning students’ gender identities. The districts had appealed the injunctions while the underlying disputes proceeded before the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights.
The lower court had found that the amended policies likely violated the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination and could cause irreparable harm to transgender students by requiring disclosure of their gender identity to parents. The Appellate Division found no abuse of discretion in granting the preliminary injunctions. However, it reversed the portions of the orders that prevented the districts from considering alternative policies.
