WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, America First Legal (AFL) and counsel Wally Zimolong filed a lawsuit against the West Shore School District in Pennsylvania for illegally subjecting children to radical and invasive Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum and illegally denying lawful opt-out requests from multiple concerned parents.
AFL plaintiffs are parents of students at the West Shore School District. One parent provided written notice to the School District asserting her right to have her children excused from the woke SEL curriculum because it conflicted with her religious beliefs. The elementary school principal responded to the written notice and confirmed that plaintiff’s children would be excused from the SEL lessons. However, later that same day, the School District Superintendent reversed course and said the District would not honor her request to have her child excused because plaintiff had not “identified specific instruction within the curriculum, which conflicts with [her] religious beliefs.” This is a shocking decision as the school district is effectively imposing an examination on the plaintiffs’ religious convictions. The District also denied the other plaintiffs’ request to opt their children out of the SEL curriculum.
Under Pennsylvania Code, parents have the right to excuse their children from specific instruction that conflicts with their religious beliefs. Despite state law, the West Shore School District has denied these parents their lawful right to opt their children out of these teachings, which are aimed at indoctrinating children. Parents, not public school administrators, are responsible for the upbringing of their children, including their moral formation. Actions by school administrators who forget that their roles are to support parents should not be tolerated. Parents need to assert their rights and protect their children.
America First Legal has been at the forefront of protecting parental rights under the law and will continue to fight for concerned parents across the nation to ensure that parents – not woke administrators – are in control of their childrens’ education and emotional well-being.
Read the complaint here.
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