WASHINGTON D.C. — The Supreme Court on Monday turned away an appeal from a Florida couple who alleged their parental rights were violated by a school board policy that kept their daughter's school from informing them about her request to use a different name and pronouns. By declining to take up the case, the court left in place a lower court ruling against the parents.

The case pits the right of parents to direct their child's care against policies enacted in recent years that aim to protect students' privacy and prevent public schools from outing transgender students to their families. Several states have enacted similar measures regarding parental notification and consent.

At least three justices — Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch — have urged courts to address whether a school district violates parents' rights when it affirms a student's gender transition without their knowledge or consent. The three justices called the issue one of "great and growing national importance," according to court documents. The court's conservative majority previously blocked a California law that would have prevented school districts from requiring teachers to notify parents if a child seeks to use different pronouns while litigation moved forward.

In 2018, the School Board of Leon County, Florida, developed procedures aiming to balance safety, privacy, students' rights and parental notice when a student sought to use a different name and pronouns. Under the guide, when students informed a school's administration that they would assert a different gender identity, the school would treat them consistent with that identity. For students who said they were transgender or gender nonconforming, the guide provided that a support plan should be completed at a meeting with school officials. The procedures noted that in some cases outing students to parents could be dangerous to their health and well-being, and directed school officials to ask students for consent before notifying parents.

In 2021, Florida enacted a "Parents' Bill of Rights" that prohibited public schools from infringing on parents' rights to direct the upbringing, education, health care and mental health of their children. In June 2022, the Leon County School Board revised its procedures to ensure school personnel did not intentionally withhold information from parents.

According to court filings, a student identified as A.G. attended a middle school in Tallahassee, Florida, and told her parents she was confused about her gender, asking to change her name to "J" and use they/them pronouns. The parents did not agree but said she could use "J" as a nickname at school. A.G. later expressed to a school counselor a desire to use a different name and pronouns, and a counselor, a social worker and a principal met with the student to complete a support plan. The Littlejohns were not told of or invited to the meeting because their child did not ask for them to be there, according to court filings. The parents learned about the meeting from A.G. several days later and demanded the school stop meeting privately with their child and treating her as nonbinary.

The Littlejohns sued the Leon County School Board and district officials in 2021, alleging that their rights to make decisions about the care and upbringing of their children were violated. The trial court dismissed the case, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit upheld that decision, ruling that while it agreed the school infringed the Littlejohns' fundamental rights, the parents failed to satisfy the standard for proving a violation of their substantive due process rights.