Judge Rules Middletown Cannot Enact Trans Student Policy

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — On Friday afternoon, Superior Court Judge David Bauman released his decision, where he decided to prevent the Middletown school district from enacting its transgender student policy once school begins Sept. 5.

Judge Bauman made his decision after the Middletown school district was sued by New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin. Both sides appeared in court on Tuesday of this week; read Patch's reporting from the courtroom.

"The Middletown Township Board of Education and Middletown Public School District are hereby preliminarily enjoined and restrained from any portion of policy 5756, and are further directed to preserve the status quo until a separate administrative complaint filed on June 21 is resolved," wrote Hon. Bauman in his Friday afternoon decision.

That June 21 complaint is a complaint the Attorney General filed with the office of Administrative Law, a state agency that makes decisions on how government operates in New Jersey.

This means the state's case against Middletown will now likely head to an administrative law judge to decide. That Administrative Law court hearing would likely not be held until December or January 2024.

Judge Bauman only had to decide if Middletown, Marlboro and Manalapan could implement their transgender student policies while the cases against them are resolved in court. He was not asked to decide the legality of their transgender policies.

On Friday, he decided to prevent the policies from being implemented.

All three school districts seek to require teachers inform parents if their child seeks to change their gender in school.

NJ Attorney General Matt Platkin hailed Judge Bauman's decision as a win for the state of New Jersey.

"We are pleased the Superior Court has granted a preliminary injunction prohibiting the new policies enacted by the Middletown, Marlboro, and Manalapan-Englishtown Boards of Education from entering into effect while the cases challenging those policies are ongoing," said a spokesman for Platkin on Friday evening. "As we have argued from the start, it is likely that these new policies violate the rights of our most vulnerable residents by discriminating against them on the basis of gender identity or expression. The court’s decision today is a major victory for civil rights — especially for the civil rights of our state’s LGBTQIA+ students."

If you want to read Judge Bauman's decision released Friday, Aug. 18:

Written decisions in Matthew J. Platkin vs Middletown Township Board of Education, Matthew J. Platkin vs Manalapan-Englishtown Board of Education, and Matthew J. Platkin vs Marlboro Township Board of Education were issued after 4:30 p.m. Friday.

The decisions can be found in eCourts at https://portal.njcourts.gov/webcivilcj/CIVILCaseJacketWeb/pages/publicAccessDisclaimer.faces

under the following docket numbers in Chancery Court:

MON-C-80-23 (Middletown)

MON-C-79-23 (Manalapan/Englishtown)

MON-C-78-23 (Marlboro)