Joe and Serena Wailes are calling out Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) in Colorado for allegedly violating their school policy. The parents claimed that a teacher and principal from the district allowed their daughter, who is in fifth grade, to sleep in the same bed as a transgender student. Now, they demand that JCPS state clear guidelines about their rules and regulations and whether parents can opt out of their school policy.
During an interview on Laura Ingraham’s conservative talk show The Ingraham Angle Dec. 6, Serena claimed that her daughter was “unknowingly assigned to share a bed” with a fifth-grade boy “who identifies as a girl” during a cross-country school trip from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. Serena was working as a chaperone on the trip and was nearby in another room when her daughter called frantically to notify her about the bed assignment.
JCPS officials, also chaperones during the trip, eventually agreed to move Serena and Joe’s 11-year-old daughter to another bed. Still, the upset matriarch claimed they were told “not to discuss” the matter with anyone else on the trip.
“We were told to hide it to protect all of the students on the trip,” she added. According to the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a conservative legal organization representing Serena and Joe, the JCPS district policy states that “under no circumstances shall a student who is transgender be required to share a room with students whose gender identity conflicts with their own.”
The policy states that staff are not allowed to disclose whether a student is transgender unless they have permission from the student or are legally required to do so. During overnight trips, transgender students are typically assigned to share accommodations with other students who “share the same gender identity,” they assert at school. Still, Serena and Joe believe the rule is “unconstitutional.”
In a complaint letter written by the ADF Dec. 4, the organization argued that the policy did not protect students like Serena and Joe’s daughter, who are uncomfortable “sharing a bed with a boy who identifies as transgender.”
“We are concerned with the unequal application of these policies in practice. The policy is supposed to maintain the privacy of all students and allows for any student who is transgender or not to be provided with a reasonable accommodation, including a private room,” the ADF — who identified the couple’s daughter as D.W. in the letter — penned.
“JCPS does not provide this same opportunity to students like D.W., who do not wish to room with a student of the opposite sex, nor to parents like the Waileses, who would like to know whether JCPS intends to require their daughter to share a room with a boy. ”
According to the complaint letter, parents were notified at “multiple” meetings before the trip that female and male students would be roomed on different hotel floors. Still, the organization states that the district didn’t follow protocol when they allowed the fifth-grade transgender student to room with D.W. The ADF noted that Serena and Joe’s 11-year-old daughter was allegedly told to “lie” about the reason she switched rooms following the incident.
Now, they are demanding that the district create clear policies about overnight school trip accommodations that meet the needs of all students. JCPS has until Dec. 18 to respond to the complaint.
“We love our school, we love our teachers, but what we don’t love is this district policy that doesn’t allow all students to feel comfortable, secure, and protected,” Serena said during her appearance on The Ingraham Angle. “And it doesn’t allow all parents to protect their children and guide them the best way they see fit, and that’s what we felt we were lacking on this trip.”
Joe, who thought about removing his daughter from the school trip after the incident, expressed a similar frustration.
“We think all kids deserve respect and privacy, but it needs to be applied equally to all children,” Mr. Wailes continued. “And this policy, the way it is right now, is very one-sided.” He added, “We didn’t do anything wrong, so we didn’t want to take the trip from her. She looked forward to the trip for quite some time. So we wanted to make sure she was able to enjoy her trip.”
In a statement, JCPS officials said they were taking Serena and Joe’s allegations “seriously.”
“In Jeffco Public Schools, student safety is paramount and partnership with families is a priority. We take this situation seriously. Because the district was only recently informed, and the trip occurred outside of the school year and through a private travel organization, we are still determining facts,” the statement read, according to Denver 7. “However, it appears that the student’s transgender status was not known when room assignments were made, and our understanding is that as soon as their transgender identity was known, room assignments were adjusted. We are working with the private travel organization to learn more, and we anticipate a more detailed response by December 18 as ADF requests.”
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