This article was originally published at 10:51 a.m. Dec. 5, 2023. It was updated at 1:46 p.m. on Dec. 5, 2023 to add the rest of MCPS’ statement on the denial of preliminary injunction in August, and to correct a quote that was incorrectly attributed to the school district. Updated at 1:54 p.m. on Dec. 5, 2023 to add a link to the YouTube livestream of the oral arguments at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Mahmoud v. McKnight goes before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond on Tuesday. Three federal judges will will hear a challenge to the denial of a preliminary injunction aimed at requiring Montgomery County Public Schools to allow parent notification and an opt-out option when LGBTQ+ books are included in the curriculum.
Listen to audio livestream of the oral arguments on YouTube at this link.
The lawsuit was first filed in May and argues against the Montgomery County Board of Education’s decision to incorporate LGBTQ+ inclusive storybooks into elementary school English language arts curriculum and its policy not to allow parents to opt out their student from instruction.
Three MCPS families filed the lawsuit against the school board and superintendent alleging that the no-opt-out policy violates their constitutional right to religious expression and Maryland law. It also alleged that the inclusive books promote “political ideologies about family life and human sexuality that are inconsistent with sound science, common sense, and the well-being of children.”
In August, a federal judge denied a motion for an injunction that aimed to temporarily force MCPS to rescind its no-opt-out policy. The policy was first articulated by the school district in March after the district decided to add six new LGBTQ+ inclusive books to its supplemental curriculum for pre-K through fifth grade.
MCPS revised the opt-opt policy in March, which said that teachers would not notify or send a letter home to families when inclusive books are read in the classroom.
After the suit was filed, Muslim, Orthodox and Christian families in the county protested the decision outside the school board headquarters various times in the summer and have continuously presented testimony at school board meetings urging the school district to offer the opt-out accommodation.
In November, Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown – joined by a coalition of 18 other U.S. Attorneys General – filed an amicus brief in support of MCPS’ decision to incorporate the inclusive texts and not allow parents to opt-out their student from instruction.
The brief stated that the school district’s policy does not violate the Constitution or Maryland law and emphasized the Attorneys General support for “safety and inclusion for LGBTQ+ youth in schools.”
MCPS issued a statement on the ruling after the preliminary injunction was denied, which cited the judge’s reasoning that, “public schools are not obliged to shield individual students from ideas which potentially are religiously offensive, particularly when the school imposes no requirement that the student violate his or her faith during classroom instruction.”
The statement reads: “MCPS remains committed to cultivating an inclusive and welcoming learning environment and creating opportunities where all students see themselves and their families in curriculum materials. We also will continue to adhere to our responsibility to include instructional materials that reflect the diversity of the local and global community by exploring the aspirations, issues, and achievements of women and men, people with disabilities, people from diverse racial, ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds, as well as those of diverse gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation.”
