Activists allegedly threaten to 'dismember' school board president, kill her kids over trans student policy
CHINO, Calif. - The Chino Valley (California) Unified School District (CVUSD) Board of Education's new parental notification policy on transgender students is getting backlash from some community members who have reportedly launched death threats against the board president.
The policy adopted with a 4-1 decision last week requires the "principal/designee, certified staff, and school counselors" to, within three days of becoming aware of the preference, notify parents of a student's decision to identify with a gender that does not directly correspond with their biological sex, use different pronouns or a different name or use locker rooms and/or restrooms that do not correspond with their biological gender.
Days later, CVUSD President Sonja Shaw told "Washington Watch With Tony Perkins" that a death threat against her came through on an anonymous phone call the day after the decision.
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"The next morning, our district got a phone call. A lot of things were said, but one thing was very clear — this person was going to kill me, and they said they were going to dismember my body parts, my limbs more specifically," Shaw told the show on Monday.
"Thank God we have an amazing police department who jumped on it right away."
Hours later, she checked her district email and found it inundated with threats.
"[Things like] 'you're going to die' with other inappropriate words, ‘your children are going to die,’ and ‘your animals are going to die…'" Shaw continued, telling the show that those behind the threats noted the types of animals she has. Members of Antifa also "declare[d] war" on her, she said.
The development comes days after Shaw tossed out California State Superintendent Tony Thurmond, who attended a school board meeting to object the decision. He warned that the policy "may fall outside of the laws that respect privacy and safety for our students, but may put our students at risk because they may not be in homes where they can be seen."
Shaw was elected to the board in November and is the mom of two Chino Valley students, according to her district biography. After coming into the role, she and other board members wanted to make some changes, Shaw said.
"Coming into being on the board, we had a policy that was quite the opposite. That was to keep the secret," Shaw explained during the Friday broadcast of "Washington Watch."
"A lot of it has to do with the perversion of our children and, with all these bills on the table, it only made sense to put some safeguards back in place… a coalition of us worked on this policy… and it only made sense to bring it forward."
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She accused Sacramento of "waging war" on parental rights, while saying Thurmond has had the district "on his radar" for some time.
In a statement, California Gov. Gavin Newsom previously called out the district for the decision: "The three political activists on the school board have yet again proven they are more interested in breaking the law than doing their jobs of educating students — so the state will do their job for them."
The controversy comes as Newsom's office engaged in another tussle with the Temecula Valley Unified School District, located east of Los Angeles, after conservative board members refused to adopt state-approved materials for their students.
Fox News Digital reached out to both Newsom's office and Shaw for additional comment on the backlash against the Chino Valley School District, but did not immediately hear back.
Fox News' Ashley Carnahan and Hannah Grossman contributed to this report.