In a new wrinkle of school districts refusing to implement recent regulations from the Murphy Administration’s Department of Education that requires school staff not to inform parents when they’re child is struggling with gender identity issues, a father of three Cherry Hill students is suing the district because “the policy violates his Fourteenth Amendment right to raise his children and make decisions about their mental health care.”

This was first reported by nj.com.

In the suit, filed October 12th in U.S. District Court, the father, Frederick K. Short Jr., says  such policies “provide for secrecy and the facilitation of double-lives [and] are psychologically unhealthy for youth.”

The DOE’s policy, which has roiled parents, teachers, and legislators, says if a student identifies as transgender and is using a different name in school, the district must keep two sets of records—one for the school with the student’s new name and one for the parents with the student’s birth name—and only inform parents if the child is in danger.

“I would feel pretty bad for a parent if their child lived a double life,” Short said. “Everyone always says parents would be mad at the kid or beat up the kid, but I’d be so mad at the school, that the school hid it.” He added, “It’d be weird for my son to go into school the first day as a freshman, talk to a guidance counselor, change his name hypothetically, from Dennis to Denise, and not let me know it for four years.”

There are a few comparable cases around the country. Short’s pro bono attorney, Thomas Stavola Jr., called attention to a case in Wisconsin “where a judge decided that the schools violated parental rights by adopting a policy to honor a minor student’s request to change their gender identity at school without parental consent.”

The state Department of Education, the Attorney General’s office, and Cherry Hills Public Schools District declined to comment.