DAMARISCOTTA, Maine — The mother of a student at Great Salt Bay Community School has sued the school board alleging school staff helped her teenage child begin socially transitioning from female to male without her knowledge, which she alleges is a violation of the law.
Amber Lavigne, who filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Portland, is from Newcastle. Great Salt Bay Community School is part of the Central Lincoln County School System, which in addition to Newcastle, includes Bremen, Bristol, Damariscotta, Jefferson, Nobleboro, and South Bristol.
According to the lawsuit, Lavigne alleges a school counselor gave her 13-year-old chest binders, which are garments used to compress a person's chest and make it appear flatter. Lavigne also claims the school counselor allowed her child to use a male name, male pronouns, and told the child not to tell her mother.
“This was no accident: my daughter’s public school counselor deliberately tried to keep me in the dark, encouraging my daughter’s gender transition and encouraging her to hide it from me,” Lavigne said in a statement issued by her attorneys, who are with the Goldwater Institute. “When school officials found out, they actually defended the counselor’s actions, trampling on my constitutional rights at every turn. I deserve to know what’s happening to my child—the secrecy needs to stop.”
The policies listed on the school's website include a "Prohibited Conduct" section, which includes "asking a student to keep a secret."
Adam Shelton is the Goldwater attorney representing Lavigne, and spoke with NEWS CENTER Maine on Thursday.
"What we’re saying, is that once school officials take an active step with regards to any sort of decision that directly affects the mental health of physical wellbeing of a child, they must tell the parents," Shelton argued. "But, it’s only once the school officials take some sort of affirmative step on their end, with respect to a child."
The lawsuit said Lavigne's child began seeing the school counselor in October, and Lavigne met with school officials in early December to voice her concerns.
The lawsuit cites the 14th amendment, claiming the U.S. Supreme Court has established a precedent that the amendment protects parents' rights to control and direct the education and general upbringing of their own child.
The 14th Amendment states: “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
Mary Bonauto is an attorney for GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, or GLAD. She told NEWS CENTER Maine while schools have a responsibility to parents, their first priority is to the well-being and learning environment for their students.
"This is a legal complaint of a parent against a school for doing what schools are supposed to do, which is to be student centered, and to make sure that when students come to school they have a safe, welcoming, supportive environment; where they can be comfortable in their own skin and do what they’re supposed to do at school; which is to be able to learn and develop," Bonauto said during the Thursday interview.
In addition to the Great Salt Bay Community School Board, Principal Kim Schaff, Superintendent Lynsey Johnston, and school social workers Samuel Roy and Jessica Berk are named as defendants in the lawsuit.
NEWS CENTER Maine has reached out to school officials but has not yet received comment.