Article originally publsihed September 6, 2023 on NJ Spotlight News

Link to Original Article by Brenda Flanagan

A Morris County judge will rule on whether he will allow a revised parental notification policy to take effect in Hanover. The reworked policy by Hanover’s school board does not single out LGBTQ students, but it does let school staff consider a student’s sexual orientation or gender identity (among other reasons) to notify parents if they think it has an adverse impact.

Matthew Giacobbe, attorney for the school board, told the court that parents will be notified “if a teacher, school psychologist or principal determined a child is suffering … It treats all children equally across the board; no child is singled out or picked on.”

The state vigorously opposes Hanover’s argument and its revised policy. Deputy Attorney General James Michael called it “…a repackaged version that’s trying to clean up some of the language.” He said the reworked policy could cause LGBTQ kids irreparable harm because it “…still permits (parental) notification at least partially based on a protected characteristic,” their gender and sexuality.

Judge Stuart Minkowitz is expected to rule within a couple of weeks.