A California dad is taking action after claiming his children’s school district won’t allow him to opt his kids out of lessons that violate the family’s sincerely held religious beliefs.
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“Carlos and Jenny Encinas’ children attended an elementary school in Encinitas, California, where their 11-year-old’s teacher read a book and required activities that conflict with their sincerely held religious beliefs,” reads a description from First Liberty, a religious freedom law firm. “After reading the book, the Encinas’ son was forced to watch a video version with a 5-year-old as part of a ‘mentoring’ program.”
Carlos Encinas told CBN News his battle with La Costa Heights Elementary School in the Encinitas Union School District began when his son came home and started sharing about his day.
“He said, ‘It was just really weird dad,'” Encinas said. “I said, ‘Well, what do you mean weird?”
That’s when his son shared that he was “forced” to take part in a read-along surrounding the book “My Shadow is Pink” as part of a mentoring program.
“Our … elementary school, they pair the 5th graders with the kindergartners and they spend about an hour a week together doing different things,” Encinas said. “Usually, it’s out on the playground or reading books that the 5-year-old kindergartners choose, and it’s a great program.”
After Encinas started to look up “My Shadow is Pink,” he said he was immediately concerned, especially considering the purported nature of the buddy program — one in which he said “They’re helping to disseminate a very controversial, complex topic to a smaller younger brother [or] younger sister.”
“I quickly realized that this book was centered around gender ideology,” he said. “And I was pretty upset about it, and he was already upset about it.”
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The family reportedly reached out to the teacher and the school to discuss the matter. At first, Encinas claims he was told the activity didn’t have to do with gender ideology.
“[They] very directly emailed back and said, ‘This has nothing to do with gender,'” he said. “And, of course, I wrote back about an hour later and said, ‘We disagree,’ and then I escalated this to the principal.”
But Encinas said this didn’t help matters. While the family wanted assurances they could opt their children out of similar efforts in the future, the superintendent purportedly stepped in to inform the family that the lesson comported with what the state legislature wanted to be taught.
Encinas said a similar conversation with the principal left him without much hope for resolve.
“I was expecting that phone call to be more reconciliation, or there would be some type of acknowledgment,” Encinas said. “There absolutely was not. In fact, it turned into her asking more questions about why I posted a video on social media just asking other parents, and just kind of putting other parents on notice that this was occurring. It turned into her kind of wanting to investigate that, and also her alleging that somehow me speaking out on this was making teachers feel unsafe.”
Encinas said he was particularly shocked that his quest to opt his children out of controversial lessons would somehow make anyone feel unsafe. Beyond that, he claims he was told such incidents could unfold in the future and that “teachers have discretion.”
Kayla Toney, associate counsel with First Liberty Institute, and a lawyer representing Encinas, said the situation is incredibly troubling from a parental — and legal — perspective.
“Parents have the right to raise their children according to their own beliefs and values, and especially when religious faith comes into play,” she said. “And, so that’s very problematic from a legal standpoint.”
Toney continued, “And another element of all this … that also violates the Constitution, specifically the First Amendment, is this activity that Carlos’s son was forced to do — so, not only did he have to see the book with his kindergarten buddy, but then he had to go outside and ask his kindergarten buddy, ‘What color represents you?’ And then chalk the shadow of the 5-year-old using that color.”
She said this is essentially compelled speech — something students cannot be implored to take part in, especially when it goes against their conscience.
In addition to Encinas reportedly not being given assurances it wouldn’t happen again, he said the PTA organized a “Pink Out the Hate Day,” referencing the book. This was especially hurtful to his kids, who interpreted those wearing pink as opposing them.
“Everybody that wore pink that day, in our child’s eyes, [were] kids that were against them,” he said, noting friendships have also been impacted. “Even kids that they’ve known since they’ve gone to preschool, since two years old, telling them, ‘The Bible’s not real’ all of a sudden.’ It became very divisive. It still is, unfortunately.”
All of this stunned the family, as Encinas described being very involved in the community up to this point. But now even his wife has faced blowback from other mothers.
“We just didn’t want to participate,” he said. “But [the] community has since kind of put us in this category where suddenly we’ve been called racist, we’ve been called bigots.”
Some of the chaos has manifested in the form of threats. But that hasn’t stopped Encinas and his family from pushing back. In fact, they filed a motion for preliminary injunction.
“We just want the ability to be not a part of it,” he said. “And we just want to be notified, and we just want to we want to have the ability to opt out. But we’ve been denied twice.”
Toney said the motion for preliminary injunction is aimed at taking to the federal court system to secure “accountability and change,” and for opt-outs to be offered to families who seek them.
“The district is wrong,” she said. “It is required to provide opt-outs under the Constitution and also under state law. California law specifically says that if there’s material that is against someone’s religious beliefs, they do have the right to opt-out, and the district is claiming that only applies in the context of one sex ed unit, but that’s just their interpretation and it’s not correct.”
The motion for preliminary injunction is asking for a quick intervention, as lawsuits can be lengthy. In this case, attorneys are looking to provide immediate relief.
“It’s been inspiring for me to see this family’s willingness to stand up because it might be easier to just move on from all of this, but instead they don’t want this to happen to anyone else,” Toney said. “They really care deeply about their community, about their friends and neighbors, and, so, for all of those who maybe don’t have a voice, their courage to speak up and to stand up for what’s right, I think is going to make a difference for a lot of other families.”
A request for comment from the Encinitas Union School District has not been returned.
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