Kane County Reporter

An anonymous source has come forward to expose what they say are troubling practices by Community School District 300—alleging that three elementary students are being referred to by gender pronouns different from their birth sex, without their parents’ knowledge. 

“We have three elementary kids whose parents don't know that they call them different genders when they're at school,” the source told the Kane County Reporter. “Could you imagine if that was your child and you found out about that?” 

The source expressed concerns about the secrecy surrounding these practices.

“To think that the kid could be going by a whole different identity at school and parents don’t know, I think it should be illegal,” the source said. “If I ever heard of such a thing, I will make sure that all of it stops. My grandkids will only go to private school because this is wrong.”

Beyond the concerns over gender identity disclosures by the district, the source described another item they found equally startling: The source claims a student who identifies as a “furry” is permitted breaks during class to “lick” themselves as a self-calming behavior.

“One student that has accommodations to be a cat and is allowed to lick themselves. And the doctor signed off on that. Now, that one, the parents are fully aware,” the source said.

The anonymous whistleblower said they're concerned about the implications these policies could have for parental rights and transparency in their children's education and is advocating for legislative changes in Illinois.   

“I would propose referendums be on Illinois ballots asking if parents think schools have the right to not inform parents when their kids are requesting different pronouns at school,” the source said. 

Neither Community School District 300 Superintendent Dr. Martina Smith nor the district’s school board members responded to the allegations when contacted by the Kane County Reporter. 

Veteran employee "unequivocally" confirms district's planned deception of parents 

Laurie Parman, a candidate for Illinois House District 66 and a former 26-year veteran employee of CUSD300, said she is not surprised by the anonymous whistleblower's allegations, noting a “cloak of secrecy” surrounding such decisions within the school district. 

Parman, reflecting on her experience with the district, said whistleblower's concerns echo long-standing issues she witnessed firsthand. 

“Without a doubt I’ve been unequivocally and personally present during issues of secrecy, it's a problem,” Parman told the Kane County Reporter.

Parman described a meeting held just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“There was a faculty meeting with at least 250 people who could corroborate this,” Parman said. 

She said during the meeting, staff were explicitly instructed on how to deceive parents on issues of gender identity. 

Parman recalled how school staff were coached on what to say to parents to hide students’ LGBTQ-related activities.

“If a parent called and asked, ‘Where was my student after school on Tuesday?’ and the student was at the LGBTQ club, you were told to say, ‘They were at the Swans Club. It’s a writing club.’ They even said, ‘Because we do writing in there.’ That was the exact wording,” Parman said. 

She added that two staff members spoke up during the meeting. 

“As parents, they were offended that the district was teaching staff how to lie to parents,” she said. 

“The purpose of this lesson that we got on lying to parents—it was supposed to be about mental health. And they had one slide that said 43% of LGBTQ, I’m not sure about the number, the percentage, something like that—either contemplate suicide or commit suicide, which was a pretty high number. I’m not sure I believed that, but it was to prove the point that we definitely needed to be dishonest with parents because parents could not be trusted.” 

The claim that transgender youth face a high risk of suicide and that gender-affirming treatments reduce this risk is largely a myth, as acknowledged by ACLU attorney Chase Strangio during Supreme Court arguments in late 2024. 

While suicidality may be somewhat common, actual deaths among LGBT youth are rare.  

According to Swedish child and adolescent psychiatrist Sven Roman, “there is currently no scientific support for gender-corrective treatment to reduce the risk of suicide.” 

Additionally, Dr. Riittakerttu Kaltiala, a Finnish psychiatrist who helped pioneer gender transition services for minors, recently warned in an op-ed published in the Free Press that such treatments lack solid evidence and can harm vulnerable adolescents. 

Concealing students' gender identities—a nationwide trend in public education 

The revelations at CUSD 300 come amid nationwide controversies over schools facilitating gender transitions without parental consent.

Schools in states like California, Colorado, Arizona, Wisconsin and Florida have been reported to promote gender transitions for minors without parental knowledge or consent. 

Meanwhile, parents across the U.S. are increasingly suing public schools for secretly supporting their children’s gender transitions.

These cases argue that schools violate parental rights by advancing gender transitions covertly and penalize students who do not comply with gender identity policies.

The Goldwater Institute and other advocacy groups support parents in these legal challenges, emphasizing their fundamental right to direct their children’s upbringing, education, and healthcare—rights critics say schools undermine through “gender support plans” and confidentiality rules. 

Some states have proposed laws protecting educators who conceal such information and penalizing parents who oppose their children’s transitions. Last year New York passed Proposition 1, which has been criticized for embedding identity-based rights that potentially sideline parental consent. 

A similar law was proposed in Illinois’ General Assembly in 2024 by State Rep. Anne Stava-Murray (D-Downers Grove), which would have redefined child abuse to include parents who deny their children access to gender-affirming care. The bill, which did not pass, would have also allowed minors to consent to such care without parental approval, with healthcare providers shielded from liability. 

Several cases in recent years have drawn attention to children being transitioned without their parents’ knowledge.

In January 2024, January Littlejohn recorded a video with Genspect describing how her 13-year-old daughter made a transgender identity announcement during the COVID-19 lockdown, influenced by online communities, friends, and media. 

Although Littlejohn did not affirm the identity at home, and informed the school, the school held a private meeting with her daughter and implemented a six-page gender support plan without parental consent. 

Littlejohn only discovered this after her daughter told her, and was shocked to learn the school’s policy allowed staff to withhold information from parents under the guise of “non-discrimination.”

Personal stories like Erin Friday’s in California highlight the emotional toll on families.

In April 2025, Friday told California Insider Clips how her daughter was socially transitioned at school—given a male name and pronouns—without parental consent during remote learning. 

When Friday confronted the school, officials insisted they were a “safe space” and even contacted child protective services.

In August 2024, a Colorado family filed a federal lawsuit against School District 27J and state education officials, alleging their daughter was socially transitioned to a male identity at school without their knowledge or consent. 

The parents claim a counselor helped their 14-year-old change names and pronouns and facilitated secret online therapy, violating their constitutional rights. 

The lawsuit argues this undermined their parental authority and damaged their relationship with their child, who has since de-transitioned.

In October 2024, the Daily Wire exposed that seven Arizona school districts have policies requiring staff to conceal students’ transgender identities from their parents, often allowing students to socially transition without parental consent. 

These districts use “gender support plans” and staff training to prioritize student privacy and preferred pronouns, sometimes involving legal counsel when parents are unsupportive.

In 2021, a Wisconsin court ruled that the Kettle Moraine School District violated parental rights by allowing students to socially transition, such as changing names or pronouns, without parental consent.

The case involved two sets of parents, one of whom withdrew their daughter after the school refused to respect their wishes during her gender dysphoria. 

In that instance, the court ruled that decisions about social transition are medical and must be made by parents, not school staff.