California School District Reverses Course – Agrees to Protect Parental Rights

by Emily Washburn | September 18, 2026 | Education Religious Freedom

A California school district changed its policies this week to require schools notify parents before teaching —  and allow them to opt their children out of — material conflicting with their religious beliefs.

The agreement resolves a lawsuit against the district alleging it violated a California family’s right to free speech, parental rights and the right to freely exercise their religion.

Carlos and Jenny Encinas sued Encinitas Union School District in September 2024 after the district refused to allow the couple to opt their two sons out of lessons teaching gender ideology.

Earlier that year, the Encinas had been dismayed to learn their oldest son’s fifth-grade class had read a book about a little boy who discovers his shadow is pink, not blue. The book, My Shadow is Pink, ended with the boy and his father dressing as girls.

The 11-year-old, a committed Christian, then had to listen to My Shadow is Pink with his kindergarten buddy. He was instructed to help his buddy identify the color shadow that “best represented them.”

“[My son] could kind of filter out [the book’s message.],” Carlos told the Daily Citizen in an interview last year. “I think what really upset him was the fact that he was forced to [share that message] with a five-year-old.”

Carlos and Jenny tried to opt both their sons out of similar lessons in the future, explaining it interfered with their Christian beliefs. The district denied both requests — despite allowing non-religious opt-outs for everything from gym class to dissecting animals.

By denying their opt-out requests, the Encinases argued, Encinitas Union violated their parental rights and right to freely exercise their religion.

California law requires schools to allow parents to opt out of sex ed lessons. The district argued this law only applied to material taught in sexual education units, rather than sexual material in general.

Kayla Toney, First Liberty counsel and the Encinas’ attorney, explained the district’s backwards logic to the Daily Citizen:

[The district] is claiming that they don’t have to provide [parental] opt-outs when the exact same material about sexuality and gender identity is taught in other classes, in younger grades, outside the sexual education unit.

But Carlos and Jenny maintained parental opt-out requirements apply to all sexual content, regardless of the curricula it’s rolled into.

Long-standing U.S. Supreme Court precedent also prevents a school from denying religious exemptions while granting other, non-religious exemptions.

The Supreme Court highlighted this principle in Mahmoud v. Taylor, a case which could well have influenced Encinitas Union’s decision to settle.

Mahmoud began in 2023 when several Maryland couples from diverse religious backgrounds sued Montgomery County Public Schools after the district eliminated a pathway for parents to opt their children out of reading LGBT books in the classroom.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of the parents last summer, finding that, when a school mandates exposure to material which conflicts with a family’s religious beliefs, the school “substantially burdens” their right to freely exercise their religious beliefs.

In his ruling, Justice Samuel Alito, explicitly noted schools cannot grant some opt-outs and refuse to grant religious opt-outs.  

The Encinas’ case also argued Encinitas Union school district violated their eldest son’s free speech rights by forcing him to teach gender ideology to his kindergarten buddy. Toney told the Daily Citizen:

Our position is that what happened to Carlos’ son was compelled speech, because the government — the school district — was using the children to teach its own message about gender that directly conflicted with his religious beliefs.

In a press release announcing Encinitas Union’s decision to change its policies — and pay the Encinas family an undisclosed amount of money — Nate Kellum, Senior Counsel for First Liberty Institute wrote:

No child should be forced to speak a message that violates his religious convictions. We are grateful that we were able to reach this settlement on behalf of the families involved. This is a tremendous victory not only for our clients but for all parents in the Encinitas Union School District.

Carlos knew his family’s case made an impact in their community, long before he knew the outcome.

“There’s a certain awareness [about parental rights issues] within our community now that I think is really beneficial,” he reflected, continuing:

[The district] really isn’t transparent about how it trains its teachers and the way content is distributed in the classroom. We’ve had a lot of parents reach out to use personally and thank us for being a voice on this.

When the Daily Citizen last spoke to Carlos, he told us: “We know God’s got this battle won for us — we just need to be trusting and faithful.”

Please join us in thanking God for the Encinas family’s victory for parental rights, religious freedom and free speech.

Additional Articles and Resources

Victory: CA School District Agrees to Notify Parents Before Teaching Gender Ideology

California Family Wins Early Legal Victory for Parental Rights, Religious Freedom

Supreme Court Defends Religious Freedom, Parental Rights Over ‘LGBT’ Curriculum

California Family Harassed After Trying to Opt Out of Activities Teaching Gender Ideology