By Sarah Holliday

Until recently, Jennifer Vitsaxaki’s 12-year-old daughter was enrolled in the New York Skaneateles Central School District. Like any good parent, Vitsaxaki tried to be engaged in her daughter’s education. She was strongly invested in the school and even served as a bus driver for some time. One would think that out of many parents in that school district, Vitsaxaki was one of the most likely to know what was going on within it.

However, over time, she observed a shift in her daughter’s attitude, including increased anxiety, depression, and sometimes an opposition to go to school at all. When the concerned mother went to the school directly to understand why her daughter was behaving abnormally, she was assured nothing at school was to blame. But that was quickly exposed as a malicious lie.

Vitsaxaki found out that the school, according to the district policy, was purposefully hiding the fact that her daughter was being treated as a boy by her teachers and classmates. She was referred to by a male name and pronouns, and this was done without the consent of Vitsaxaki. “[T]he school district left [Vitsaxaki] out in the dark,” said Vincent Wagner, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), on Wednesday’s edition of “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins.” Wagner is representing Vitsaxaki as she sues the school district.

Because of the school’s policy, she was “unable to help her daughter at a time when her daughter really needed her mother’s help,” Wagner emphasized, which also “violated her parental rights.” Family Research Council President Tony Perkins added, “I’d like to say that this is like an anomaly, but you know what? This is happening almost every week.”

Wagner shared that parental duties involve making the best decisions they can concerning their child’s ubringing, education, and health. So, the school district withholding “crucial information” from Vitsaxaki violated her “fundamental right” as a parent to be aware of what’s happening with her own daughter. As Perkins highlighted, Vitsaxaki proved to be engaged. “[I]t wasn’t like she was indifferent [or] didn’t really care,” he said. “She was there. She was involved.”

The irony in this situation that Wagner pointed out is that most schools “seek permission to give kids an aspirin while they’re at school during the day. But they have policies like these that keep this critical information from parents.” Practically and scientifically speaking, he continued, “kids do better when their parents help them through these sorts of difficult issues. And schools have no business cutting parents out.”

Perkins shared how when the mother pulled her daughter out of the public school and placed her in a private school, “the daughter began to make improvements emotionally [and] physically.” He added these developments “included her daughter no longer wanting to be identified as a male.”

“I mean, this to me shows how these schools, in concert with this whole LGBTQ transgender agenda, are trying to lock these kids into a path … that would lead to irreversible damage,” Perkins pointed out. Especially with this happening all across the country, Wagner emphasized, “[I]t’s important that parents be bold and be willing to speak out.”

Additionally, it’s important to provide parents with resources on how to do that. ADF has a resource on their website that educates parents on the ideologies many schools are thrusting upon vulnerable children. Wagner said, “[W]e want to equip parents to know their rights and know that the Constitution is on their side on this.”

Perkins concluded, “It’s my hope that not only does this mother get justice. … I really [hope] these entities that are doing this [can be punished] because this is so deceptive — intentionally deceptive — dangerous, and destructive to our children. And it has to stop.”

Sarah Holliday is a reporter at The Washington Stand.