Encinitas Union School District will provide parents notice and opt-out options for instruction that substantially interferes with families’ religious beliefs
A California school district has agreed to change its policies to provide parents and students with notification and opt-out options for certain classroom materials following a federal religious-liberty lawsuit brought by two families.
The Encinitas Union School District reached an agreement with parents represented by First Liberty Institute and the National Center for Law & Policy, bringing the federal lawsuit to an end. Under the agreement, the district will provide notification and opt-outs when instruction promoting gender ideology or other material substantially interferes with a family’s religious beliefs, according to First Liberty. The district also agreed to pay the plaintiffs an undisclosed amount.
Dispute Began With Elementary School Lesson
The case grew out of a 2024 incident at La Costa Heights Elementary School involving My Shadow is Pink, a children’s book dealing with gender identity and self-expression.
According to court filings, fifth-grade students participating in the school’s “buddy” mentoring program watched a read-aloud presentation of the book with kindergarten students and then participated in an activity asking the younger students to select a color representing themselves and draw their shadows in chalk.
Carlos and Jenny Encinas objected on religious grounds and sought advance notification and the ability for their son to opt out of similar activities. The district denied those requests, leading the family and another family to file a federal lawsuit in September 2024.
Federal Court Sided With Parents on Buddy Program
In May 2025, a federal district court granted the parents a preliminary injunction covering the district’s elementary-school buddy program.
The court ordered that gender-identity topics covered in health instruction could not be included in buddy-program activities without providing parents advance notice and an opportunity to opt their children out. The ruling was specifically limited to the buddy program rather than all district instruction.
The district initially appealed but later voluntarily dismissed its appeal. First Liberty said subsequent developments, including the U.S. Supreme Court’s parental-rights ruling in Mahmoud v. Taylor, contributed to the district changing its policies.
Lawsuit Now Resolved
First Liberty announced September 15 that the parties have agreed to end the lawsuit following the district’s policy changes.
“No child should be forced to speak a message that violates his religious convictions,” First Liberty senior counsel Nate Kellum said in announcing the settlement.
Kellum called the outcome “a tremendous victory” for the families involved and parents throughout the Encinitas Union School District.
The case adds to the continuing national debate over the respective roles of parents and public schools when classroom instruction conflicts with a family’s sincerely held religious beliefs.
For Christian parents, the Encinitas case also illustrates the practical impact that religious-liberty protections can have inside public schools: families challenged a policy they believed burdened their faith, pursued the issue in federal court and ultimately secured expanded notice and opt-out protections.
