FAIRFIELD, NJ – The School District of the Chathams Board of Education has agreed to permanently abandon a policy that allowed school staff to hide a child’s “gender transition” from parents. The agreement ends a federal lawsuit Thomas More Society filed in August on behalf of Moms for Liberty. Under a settlement agreement filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, the board will not readopt Policy 5145.7 or any derivative policy, and every current and future district employee will receive a copy of the agreement. That agreement commits the district to honor the parental rights recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court in Mirabelli v. Bonta and Mahmoud v. Taylor.

“No school has the authority to transition a child behind his or her parents’ backs, and the Supreme Court made that unmistakably clear in Mirabelli. This board told New Jersey parents the ruling didn’t apply to them, kept its secret transition policy on the books, and forced families to go to federal court to protect their own children,” said Christopher Ferrara, Senior Counsel at Thomas More Society.

“Now that policy is gone for good, every teacher and counselor in the district will receive a copy of the board’s written commitment to respect parents’ rights. Districts that choose to still hide children’s gender transitions from their parents can follow the Chathams’ lead and change course now, or they can explain themselves to a federal judge,” added Ferrara.

The board approved the settlement 7–0 at its October 12 meeting. It agreed that any future policy adopted or mandated by the State would be “compliant with United States Supreme Court precedent.”

“The parents behind this case endured doxxing and harassment simply for asking their school district to respect their role as their children’s primary educators,” said Tina Descovich, CEO and Co-Founder of Moms for Liberty. “Their perseverance has secured a promise that protects every family in the Chathams, and we hope school boards across the country take note. Moms for Liberty will keep standing with parents in every district that tries to come between them and their children."

The settlement marks a sharp reversal. At a June board meeting, Board President, Ann Ciccarelli, declared that “the United States Supreme Court decision Mirabelli is not binding on public school districts in New Jersey.” Adopted in 2024, the policy let a school counselor decide “whether, and to what extent, parents/guardians can be involved” once a student asked to be treated as the opposite sex. It also falsely claimed that New Jersey’s Commissioner of Education required districts to accept a student’s asserted gender identity “regardless of parent consent or involvement.”

After the Chathams School District received Thomas More Society’s demand letter, the board began the process of dropping the policy but it was only after suit was filed that the District agreed in writing that neither the policy, nor any derivative of the policy, would be adopted again.  

“Under Supreme Court precedent in the Fikre case and related decisions, merely dropping a challenged policy due to litigation is not enough,” said Ferrara. "It must be absolutely clear that the policy will not return once the suit is over. And now it is clear.”

Thomas More Society won Mirabelli v. Bonta at the U.S. Supreme Court in March, in a 6–3 decision holding that school policies concealing a child’s gender transition from parents violate their constitutional rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The Chathams settlement is part of Thomas More Society’s wider effort to enforce Mirabelli in New Jersey and elsewhere.

Read the Settlement Agreement and Stipulation of Voluntary Dismissal in Moms for Liberty v. School District of the Chathams Board of Education here.

Read the Verified Complaint here.