Middletown Super 'Vehemently' Disagrees With AG On Transgender Policy

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — On Thursday, new acting Middletown school superintendent Jessica Alfone sent a letter home to parents, where she said she "vehemently disagrees" with the Attorney General's lawsuit against her school district for its transgender student policy.

She also revealed that the next court hearing in the case will be August 15.

Also this week, the New Jersey Republican Party said they support parents in Middletown, Marlboro and elsewhere, saying Attorney General Matt Platkin's lawsuit is "yet another assault on parents’ rights in our schools."

"First, Murphy and Democrats in the legislature pushed through age-inappropriate materials for our kids during the height of COVID, then they added insult to injury by threatening a loss of funds or a state takeover for noncompliant schools," said the NJ GOP. "As if that wasn’t enough, the Murphy administration is now suing school districts that back parental notification about some of the most sensitive matters that involve their children."

Last Wednesday, the Middletown school board was sued by the state less than 24 hours after passing its new policy, whereby teachers are now required to inform parents if a student seeks to officially go by a new name, gender pronoun, use a different bathroom or play on a different sports team.

"The Middletown Township Board of Education, our legal counsel, and I vehemently disagree with the Attorney General’s argument that is it discriminatory or improper to notify a parent, absent a concern for potential harm, that their minor child is requesting a public accommodation, such as a formal name change in a student database or the use of an alternative public restroom," wrote Alfone Thursday. "Parental collaboration in education is common practice, and we positively promote this important partnership in all facets of educating our children. It is our belief that this should be no different."

Alfone also said the district would make exceptions if informing the parents would put a child or teen at risk. AG Platkin, a Democrat, previously compared policies such as Middletown's to "outing" children and teens, and said increased LGBTQ+ suicides and self harm could result.

"As a protective measure, we also have an exception built into our policy to address if any such notification would endanger the health or safety of the child," said Alfone. "However, it is our position that keeping parents in the dark about important issues is counterintuitive and contrary to the well-established Supreme Court case law that says parents have a constitutional right to direct and control the upbringing of their children."

You can read Alfone's entire letter here: MTPS Community Letter (6.29.23).pdf - Google Drive

As Patch reported yesterday, the Attorney General's lawsuit has now been moved to Monmouth County Superior Court, at the request of Middletown's lawyers.

A preliminary conference on the case, held between the AG's lawyers and Middletown's, was held Wednesday before Superior Court Judge Hon. David Bauman at the county courthouse in Freehold.

"At the judge’s behest and because school is not currently in session, we agreed to temporarily hold off on implementing the policy changes until the matter can be fully briefed and argued before the court on August 15," said Alfone.

NJ Vs. Middletown Transgender Legal Battle Moved To Monmouth County (Wednesday)

Middletown Superintendent Walker Quits With 1 Year Left In Contract (June 26)

NJ Sues Middletown, 2 Other Districts For Transgender Student Policies (June 22)