Colorado Parents Express Concern After Daughter Shares Bed with Male Classmate on School Outing

Colorado parents, Joe and Serena Wailes, lodge complaints against Jefferson County Public Schools over their 11-year-old daughter allegedly sharing a bed with a male during a trip.

Allegations of the school district concealing information from parents and students have sparked outrage, leading to a demand letter from the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) legal group.

The incident reportedly unfolded during a cross-country excursion to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., organized by the district over the summer. 

The Waileses expressed shock and concern upon discovering that their daughter was placed in a room with a male student identifying as a girl, a decision made without their consent or prior notification.

According to the ADF’s letter, the young girl was uneasy about sharing a bed with a male student. Despite her discomfort, the chaperones reportedly attempted to merely switch her bed rather than relocate her to a different room, prompting multiple requests from the girl and her parents for a room change. 

Colorado Equity Policies and Information Concealment

Parental rights are violated and student privacy is jeopardized, according to the ADF, by the district’s practice of rooming students according to gender identification while concealing this information from other Colorado parents and students.

Furthermore, the ADF claims that the school instructed the girl to fabricate reasons for the room change, instructing her to cite the need for better access to the air conditioner. 

Ultimately, after repeated requests, the male student was moved to another girls’ room.

JCPS, known for its equity policies regarding gender transitions and rooming arrangements, previously stated that a student’s gender identity determines their rooming assignment, keeping parents unaware of such decisions. 

ADF’s senior counsel, Kate Anderson, emphasized parental rights in shaping a child’s upbringing and education, condemning the concealment of information from parents by the school.

Requests for comment from JCPS have not yet been returned, which is adding to worries about openness and parental participation in Colorado school regulations pertaining to privacy and student accommodations.