yeah the Attorney General's office will be keeping a close eye on the new parental notification requirements approved Tuesday night by those three school boards and those districts likely won't be the last to take up similar rules as our senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan reports the meetings were contentious chanted outside the meeting of Middletown School Board protesting what they called anti-trans Rule changes up for a vote inside the rally in Middletown mirrored parallel protests in Marlborough and Manalapan all three boards ultimately voted to adopt revised policy Provisions that would in effect out trans students to their parents but first debate raged for hours proponents argued for Parental notification I am tired of the government other people are trying to co-parent with me trying to tell me what's right for my family my kid one of my boys I have four boys they feel like they're becoming they want to be a girl I want to know so I can do it Middletown amended official state guidance so that if a student requests transition help such as a name identity pronoun change bathroom locker room accommodation or club sports accommodations the school district shall notify a student's parents or Guardian opponents called it discriminatory what you want to do is rip away any form of comfort that we have even if your children aren't telling you of stuff about themselves about their gender identity or sexuality that speaks volumes about you and not them the proposed revisions the district's policies and transgender students unfairly Target and discriminate against a group of people who already faced heavy marginalization in our community school boards have by Nature been nonpartisan but politics now intrudes and battle lines are drawn in an all-out culture War Monmouth County's just the beginning but both sides now work with State and National organizers to field slates of candidates and influence policies Sean Hyland heads a conservative religious group there are a number of districts where the school board members are trying to get a vote on these policies they might have the minority view in the school board so the policy are not coming up for a vote during this current session I'm sure that'll be part of Local School Board elections later on this year Monmouth County is a hot mess right now what it's really about is a concerted organized well-funded effort to remove diversity and inclusion from our classrooms Mike gotchman attended the Middletown meeting he founded a group supporting trans and lgbtq rights that helped field last night's protests and hopes to fight back at The Ballot Box as well it's political fodder we know that over the past two election Cycles we were caught like deer in the headlights we didn't see it coming and basically they used fear and rage to get themselves elected to the boards the parental notification issue is in court where New Jersey's attorney general obtained an injunction against Hanover's policy which it says illegally discriminates against trans and lgbtq students that policy remains on hold for now as the case heads for a hearing before New Jersey's division on civil rights I'm Brenda Flanagan NJ Spotlight news [Music] [Music]