Overnight school field trips are supposed to be an exciting time for young students to enjoy hands-on learning and bond with their classmates. For many, school trips to historic American cities like Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington, D.C., have created some of the fondest memories of their educational journeys.
But thanks to a harmful policy adopted by Jefferson County Public Schools (JeffCo) in Colorado, some students are facing privacy violations while attending school-sponsored trips.
An uncomfortable night
While planning for overnight trips, JeffCo regularly informs parents that “girls will be roomed together on one floor, and boys will be roomed together on a different floor.” But what district officials fail to mention is that they have redefined “boy” and “girl” in their policy to mean a student’s self-asserted “gender identity” rather than sex.
In June 2023, this issue came to a head for the Wailes family. Joe and Serena Wailes had a daughter in fifth grade, D.W., who was going to attend a JeffCo-sponsored trip to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Joe and Serena were assured in multiple parent meetings leading up to the trip that boys and girls would be staying on different floors. The Waileses were told that their daughter would room with three other girls, but they were never informed that the room assignments were based on “gender identity” and not sex.
Serena decided to accompany her daughter on the trip, but she did not serve as a chaperone. During the trip, the students were told that boys and girls were not allowed to visit each other’s hotel floors without permission. D.W. was assigned to share a room with two students from her school and one student from a different school whom she did not know.
But on the first night, the student from the other school, with whom D.W. was supposed to share a bed, informed D.W. that he was a male who identified as female.
D.W. was understandably uncomfortable with the idea of sharing a bed with a male student, so she snuck into the bathroom and quietly called her mother, who met her in the lobby of the hotel, and then texted her father what she just found out so her roommates wouldn’t overhear. After D.W. informed her mom what just happened, Serena contacted a chaperone on the trip, who then contacted a trip leader.
The chaperones asked D.W. if she could simply move to another bed rather than a new room, and while she was still uncomfortable, she agreed to try it for one night so that she could get some sleep. But the chaperones, consistent with district policy, asked D.W. to lie about the reason and say she needed to switch beds to be closer to the air conditioner.
Once the chaperone and D.W. were back in the hotel room, however, another roommate suggested that the other student also switch to the bed closer to the air conditioner. D.W. was afraid to speak up in front of the other roommates on the contentious topic of gender identity, so she went into the hall and again told her mom that she was uncomfortable.
Serena stepped in and again asked that D.W. be moved to a new room. Finally, the chaperones agreed to rearrange the rooms so that D.W. was in a room with only one other girl. But they again told her to lie about the reason for the room change, blaming it on a sick roommate who needed more space.
Throughout all the events of the night, the JeffCo-sponsored chaperones were required to follow the district’s harmful policy, which disregarded D.W.’s feelings and privacy, repeatedly putting her in difficult positions.
JeffCo’s policy put an 11-year-old girl in an uncomfortable and entirely avoidable situation. And by hiding its policy, JeffCo robbed her parents of the opportunity to exercise their parental rights to make the best decision for their daughter ahead of the trip.
Another violation of privacy and parental rights
Unfortunately, the Waileses are not the only ones who have faced the very real harm caused by JeffCo’s policy. During the 2022-23 school year, Bret and Susanne Roller sent their son on a four-day, three-night trip called Outdoor Lab, which is required for all sixth-grade students in JeffCo schools. The trip takes place at a JeffCo-owned campground in the mountains, and parents are not allowed to attend or chaperone. Students are also not allowed to access their cell phones during the trip.
The Rollers were told their son would be in a cabin with six to 30 other boys, including four male high-school or college-aged counselors. But once the Rollers’ son got to the mountains, away from home and without any form of communication, he realized that JeffCo had lied.
One of his 18-year-old high school counselors was not male but instead was a girl who identified at school as “non-binary.” The Rollers’ son soon found out that this girl was not just sleeping and changing in the same cabin but was also tasked by JeffCo to supervise the boys’ showers, including his.
More parents become concerned
Rob and Jade Perlman have a son who is supposed to attend Outdoor Lab this year and a daughter who is a successful basketball player on JeffCo teams. When they heard about the experiences of the Waileses and the Rollers, they became concerned about where their daughter would sleep on athletic trips and whether their son would have his privacy violated at Outdoor Lab.
The Perlmans don’t want their children to miss out on academic and extracurricular activities, especially those that could help them secure college scholarships. But they also don’t want to be forced to send their children on trips where JeffCo cannot assure their safety and privacy.
JeffCo must make things right
In December 2023, Alliance Defending Freedom sent a demand letter on the Waileses’ behalf asking JeffCo to clarify whether the district would inform all parents about the policy and their children’s room assignments and allow them to make informed decisions for their children.
ADF attorneys sent a second demand letter again asking the school district to allow parents to opt out of any policy that would force their children to share rooms, beds, or other private spaces with children of the opposite sex. The second letter also detailed the Rollers’ story and explained the need to address the privacy violations many families face when sending their children on JeffCo-sponsored overnight trips.
Unfortunately, JeffCo refused to provide an accommodation for students attending trips such as Outdoor Lab if they are uncomfortable or it violates their religious beliefs to stay in an intimate setting with a student of the opposite sex. In addition, the district said it will not inform parents prior to trips if their children are assigned to room with a member of the opposite sex, which renders it impossible for parents to make informed decisions for their children.
In September 2024, ADF attorneys filed a lawsuit challenging Jefferson County Public Schools’ harmful policy on behalf of the Waileses, the Rollers, and the Perlmans. JeffCo, like all school districts, must respect the rights of parents to make important decisions about their children’s upbringing, including whether they can share an overnight room with members of the opposite sex.
Wailes v. Jefferson County Public Schools
- December 2023: ADF attorneys sent a demand letter on behalf of the Waileses asking JeffCo to clarify whether it would be honest with all parents so that they can decide whether their children should share overnight rooms with members of the opposite sex.
- January 2024: ADF attorneys sent a second demand letter to the district.
- September 2024: After JeffCo refused to allow parents to make informed decisions about their children, ADF attorneys filed a lawsuit against the district on behalf of the Waileses, the Rollers, and the Perlmans.
