Recently, the Cupertino Union School District (CUSD) has been facing growing concerns from parents regarding incidents in a Transitional Kindergarten (TK) classroom at Dilworth Elementary. These concerns have ignited debates about age-appropriate content, classroom inclusivity, and parental rights. Here is an objective overview of the situation and the issues being raised by concerned families.

Classroom with a focus on Gender Identity

Parents noticed a “We Are Free to Be” poster prominently displayed as the only poster in the TK classroom. They argue that the advanced gender pronoun concepts such as “They/Ze/Tree” promoted by the poster are too complex for 4-year-olds to understand and are not age-appropriate for their developmental level.

Parents observed several books in the classroom centered on gender identity and fluidity. While some support teaching inclusivity, others feel that the focus on gender topics might be too advanced for young children.

Parents have also noticed that the classroom’s focus appears to solely promote gender identity, while other important aspects of identity – such as ethnicity, culture, language, and abilities – are notably absent. This imbalance, they argue, leaves little room for fostering a more holistic understanding of identity and inclusivity.

Teacher’s Actions in the Classroom

Several parents have shared their children’s experiences in the classroom, where they believe the teacher is promoting a personal agenda by encouraging young boys to wear dresses during playtime. Multiple documented instances were raised:

• A father shared a recorded conversation between his wife and their son where the child expressed confusion about the teacher’s gender identity, saying, “There are two [teacher’s name], one is a boy, one is a girl.” And “I wonder which [teacher’s name] is there today”.
• Above mentioned child, when asked about dress-up play, mentioned only having a “butterfly dress” as an option, and no other costumes were offered.
• From another family, a boy hesitated to wear a dress by saying “I can’t wear a dress”, but the teacher encouraged him, using phrases like “clothes are for everyone”
• Another family shared their child expressed distress after being offered a dress to wear, “if you don’t wear it, I’m going to give it to someone else”, and the boy refused and threw the dress on the floor in frustration. Some parents feel it was an attempt to persuade the child instead of acknowledging the child’s choice.
• Another parent shared her conversation with the Principal, where the principal confirmed that there were other clothes, but they were stored in the bin, not hung up.

Parents argued that although children should have the freedom to choose their own clothing, actively encouraging boys to wear dresses is inappropriate and can lead to confusion among them.

Parents’ Actions

As a result, several families have withdrawn from the classroom over the past two school years, while many others have expressed concerns but remain due to logistical reasons. When parents reached out to the school principal, they were told that the posters were just “decorations”. In response, multiple parents filed formal complaints.

Meanwhile, at a recent school board meeting, parents voiced their demands for greater transparency and clearer guidelines to ensure that instruction aligns with the approved curriculum. Additionally, they initiated a petition urging the board to take further action.
Full petition – https://forms.gle/XiNYuLdZWkSWNwbY7.

At 9/26’s Board Meeting

Parents intended to voice their concerns at the CUSD board meeting on 9/26. However, on 9/25, the Cupertino Education Association (CEA, the teacher’s union) sent a misleading email to all teachers. The email falsely claimed that “Moms for Liberty” would be attending the meeting and urged teachers to show support for the LGBTQ community.

During the meeting, parents experienced a hostile environment. The CEA members used large posters and flags to occupy many seats, forcing many parents to stand outside the room. Parents reported being called “bigots” and “fascists”. Some CEA members made noise while parents spoke and mocked immigrant parents who struggled with their speech.

Some teachers were also discontented with the situation. One teacher expressed that she had expected a different kind of meeting and felt confused after hearing the parents’ perspectives, realizing she was unaware of the ongoing issues. After being thoroughly informed about the problems in the TK classroom, she completely aligned herself with the parents’ concerns, a sentiment echoed by several other teachers as well.