Wailes v. Jefferson County Public Schools

Jefferson County Public Schools in Colorado is violating parents’ fundamental right to make decisions about the upbringing and education of their children. A school district policy directs that students should be “assigned to share overnight accommodations with other students that share the student’s gender identity” rather than rooming by sex, and the district refuses to give parents truthful, pertinent information about their children’s overnight accommodations, thus hampering parents’ ability to make informed decisions about their children’s education and privacy.

Case Timeline

• December 2023: ADF attorneys sent a demand letter on behalf of Joe and Serena Wailes, 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 opposite-sex students.
• 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’s privacy, ADF attorneys filed a lawsuit against the district on behalf of the Waileses, the Rollers, and the Perlmans. A motion for preliminary injunction was also filed.
• December 2024: A fourth family was added to the lawsuit.
• February 2025: ADF attorneys filed a renewed motion for preliminary injunction in federal district court, adding the fourth family to the motion and asking the court to reconsider the families’ case. The court had denied the previous motion filed by the original three families.
• August 2025: A federal district court dismissed the families’ lawsuit. ADF appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.
• May 2026: The 10th Circuit heard oral arguments.

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Colorado School District Kept Parents in the Dark Over Gender Identity Rooming Policy