Parents demand policy changes for trans students at Lucia Mar

A barrage of community members presented the Lucia Mar Unified School District board with a somber choice—snap district policy around transgender students into federal compliance or face the threat of parental rights lawsuits.

But other residents don’t agree with what the group is pushing for.

“I don’t really think what they’re doing helps kids. Just for example, the April 15 meeting, they’re sharing about the new accelerated math program and the new reading screener to help students with learning disabilities,” Lucia Mar parent Virginia Roof told New Times. “That’s what we should be focusing on, not these culture war issues and following Donald Trump’s executive orders or state law.”

Roof is also a representative of the South County Democratic Club of San Luis Obispo County. She told New Times that Lucia Mar’s April 15 meeting saw an influx of people in opposition to trans kids because of a flyer distributed by Arroyo Grande’s Harvest Church.

The flyer, titled “Culture Impact Chronicles,” identified two transgender students at Lucia Mar schools, one of whom is a trans female athlete.

“This is causing psychological trauma to the girls,” the flyer read. “Girls who identify and actually are girls, or boys as boys are not offered the same private spaces, which exposes the district to Title IX and sexual discrimination lawsuits.”

Harvest Church’s flyer called official district policies “immoral and unfair.” Those policies include addressing students by their chosen pronouns; allowing students to access the sports team, restroom, and locker room that conforms to their chosen gender; and needing students’ consent before sharing students’ gender with their parents.

The flyer aligns with a larger countywide call issued by the local Moms for Liberty chapter. A pledge issued by the group demands that school districts align their policies with President Trump’s executive orders like “keeping men out of women’s sports” and “defending women from gender ideology extremism and restoring biological truth to the federal government.”

Moms for Liberty also wants school district policy to follow the Title IX regulations enacted by Trump in his first term. Title IX changed under President Biden—including explicit protections for transgender students. Reverting to the 2020 rule under Trump’s second term, Title IX will now enforce protections “on the basis of biological sex in schools and on campuses,” according to the U.S. Department of Education.

Not complying with Moms for Liberty’s demands by April 27 could mean lower than usual attendance for Lucia Mar—which relies on attendance-based revenue—on April 28. Pledge signatories vow to keep their children home from school in defiance.

“This protest will continue, with our children absent from school for one day each month, until the school districts adhere to federal law, respecting Title IX and executive orders that safeguard the rights of all our children, sons and daughters alike,” the pledge said.

Harvest Church’s flyer, signed off by ministry Director Shannon Kessler, urged people to speak out at upcoming Lucia Mar board meetings.

Kessler and Harvest Church—one of the SLO County churches that sent political questionnaires to school board candidates last year—didn’t respond to New Times‘ requests for comment.

The South County Democratic Club also called on its supporters to attend future meetings in favor of trans rights.

“Ever since I’ve participated in high school sports, I realized what a privilege it is to be part of a team and represent my school with amazing people,” 10th grader Bibi Shah said at the April 15 meeting. “Some adults in our community are claiming that having trans people attending our school and participating in school activities is causing ‘psychological trauma,’ but I feel just fine knowing that trans athletes are currently able to show school spirit and participate in our sports.”

In contrast, fellow high school athlete Celeste Duyst cried while recounting a visit to the girl’s locker room. She alleged that a “biological male,” already wearing a track uniform, watched her and other girls undressing. Duyst’s comments caught the attention of Fox News, which featured her in the April 20 Fox and Friends segment.

Lucia Mar board members directed concerned community members to speak with state representatives like state Assemblymember Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay), state Sen. John Laird (D-Santa Cruz), and U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara).

“Congressman Carbajal stands with the entire LGBTQ-plus community and has opposed anti-LGBTQ-plus bills in the U.S. House of Representatives, including bills that seek to ban trans athletes from participating in women’s and girls’ sports,” Carbajal spokesperson Eduardo Carrizosa told New Times. “The congressman will continue to work with House Democrats to defend the community from any attempt to roll back their rights or institutionalize anti-LGBTQ-plus prejudice.”

In an April 16 letter to local school districts, SLO County Superintendent of Schools James Brescia said that the Senate didn’t proceed with a proposed bill, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, that would have required recognition of sex based only on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth. He added that two Assembly bills—89 and 844—that prioritized students’ sex assigned at birth didn’t pass out of committee. That means the law, Brescia said, currently remains unchanged.

“California’s current law protects gender identity and obligations related to participation in athletics and access to facilities,” he wrote. “The state government provides a significant majority of funding for California schools, and failure to comply with California law may result in the loss of state funding and expose LEAs [local educational agencies] to liability for discrimination or harassment based on both state and federal law.” Δ

This article appears in Apr 24 – May 4, 2025.