Peoria Unified School District parents and Governing Board members are questioning why they were not notified that students at Desert Harbor Elementary School would be participating in a “International Transgender Day of Visibility.”
Parents and Governing Board members only became aware of the expected display of support by their elementary aged children of the annual event after a message from a staff member, Mx. Sarah Chunnui, was sent to other staff members.
Chunnui, a Special Education Teacher wrote:
Hello Fabulous Staff,
I just wanted to let you know that you may see our students wearing more pink, teal, and white today. Today is a quickly growing annual event called “International Transgender Day of Visibility.” Our President is expected to make some announcements today on new legislature (sic) to protect the rights of Trans students, and many of our students have taken the keen interest in these legislative movements. How can you be of help? If you notice a student purposefully wearing the colors of the trans flag, a simple “I see you” or “I support you” can go a long way.
Thank you fabulous staff!
Mx. Sarah Chunnui M.Sp.Ed
Pronouns: she/her, they/them
The District’s did not respond to our inquiry. However, it appears that after our inquiry, an administrator sent a message to parents:
Hello Sandsharks,
Today you may see a screenshot on social media of an email that was recently sent by one of our staff members regarding personal views on International Transgender Day of Visibility. While the message may get increased attention in our community, it was important to me that you know that the email was only sent to our staff and not to students or parents.
At Desert Harbor we pride ourselves on using our limited resources to directly support teaching and learning. Please know that not all messages you see posted are a representation of our school or district.
If you have any questions regarding our school, please know that you can always talk to me. I appreciate your continued support of Desert Harbor.
“The school’s response made it worse for me,” said one concerned parent, “because assuring parents that what they saw was just for staff and was never intended to be seen by parents or students just confirms that they had no intention of parents ever finding out what was happening at the school.”
“It is inappropriate for school personnel to be promoting these sorts of policies at work, and parents are rightfully upset at attempts to sexualize young children,” said Arizona State Rep. Beverly Pingerelli, who also serves on the Peoria Unified School District Governing Board.
Parents in the Deer Valley Unified School District were also alarmed to discover that their children might also be participating in the GLSEN Day Of Silence when a candidate for office mistakenly advised them that a message was sent by staff to parents of students at Paseo Hills School.
Monica Allread, Director of Communications & Community Engagement for the Deer Valley Unified School District, advised the Arizona Daily Independent in an email:
Please know that you received some incorrect information. Below is the message that the District provided to our schools, including Paseo Hills School. This information was then shared by principals with their teachers and staff members. You can see from this information that DVUSD does not endorse, prohibit, participate, or coordinate this event.
The GLSEN Day of Silence 2022 will be April 22. This is a one day silent protest that encourages students to be silent for the full day in support of LGBTQ students. You may have students that wear tape over their mouths or otherwise cover their mouths. As a district, we neither endorse nor prohibit this expression activity and students who participate should be encouraged to appropriately participate in class. Remember–students have the right to expression, and this includes the right not to express one’s self by staying silent.
Parents say it never occurred to them that these type of student events and protests could take place on campus without some advance notice sent home to parents that their children might be exposed to controversial social movement. Now, they are pledging to turn to their own State legislators to add a “heads-up” provision to the Parent’s Bill of Rights.