New Resource Alert! Mahmoud v. Taylor Legal Advisory and Sample Opt Out Letter for MA Parents (Updated 1/26)
SCOTUS has spoken on behalf of the religious rights of parents. Here are tools you can use to protect your kids in public school this fall.
We told you last time about Mahmoud v. Taylor, the recent US Supreme Court case brought by Montgomery County, MD parents who had been denied an opportunity to opt their children out of LGBTQ storybook lessons in their local elementary schools. At MIP, we had been watching this case for months because we knew that many MA parents had faced a similar situation in their own schools and that, for better or for worse, what happened in Mahmoud would have ripple effects here in MA. Who would ultimately have the court on their side - the parents, or the school?
Last month we got the good news - SCOTUS decided on behalf of the parents! The highest court in the land recognized the fundamental constitutional right of parents to direct the religious upbringing of their children - even while attending public school. They agreed with the plaintiff parents that forcing children to read books promoting ideas about gender and sexuality at odds with their family’s religious beliefs was a violation of that right.
Following the decision we blew the whistle on Newton Public Schools, where their past history of denying parental opt outs of these types of books is a verifiable fact. Their own documents highlighted their opt-out-denying position, and they were even using some of the same exact books that were at the center of Mahmoud! You can learn more about what we found in the NPS HERE.
Newton’s anti-parental-rights posture was documentable (and egregious), but we knew the NPS wasn’t the only school district guilty of running roughshod over the religious beliefs of MA families. We also knew that if a school district had already made a habit of denying parental rights, they probably wouldn’t be eager to notify parents of the outcome of a new SCOTUS decision that would limit their power. Parents would need meaningful resources to help them understand Mahmoud - what it means for their district, and what it means for their family. And today we are thrilled to provide those very resources.
The Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center has now released two important documents: the Massachusetts Legal Advisory: Mahmoud v. Taylor and the Constitutional Right to Religious Opt-Outs in Public Schools, and an updated opt-out form that religious parents can use to opt their children out of sex ed, instructional activities and programs covering issues of sexual orientation or gender identity, surveys, and name/pronoun changes related to social transition. (Note: the opt out form in this post was updated on 1/26 to reflect a recent legal victory. If you have downloaded an older version of this form previously, we recommend using this new one instead.)
Read the legal advisory here:
And the sample opt out letter here:
You can download these resources here.
And find shareable links here:
MLLC Mahmoud v. Taylor Legal Advisory Letter
MLLC 2025-2026 Updated Sample Opt Out Form
Share these important resources far and wide! Send the legal advisory letter to your local school committee and superintendent to make them aware of what Mahmoud means for their district. Organizations like Massachusetts Association of School Committees and the MA Attorney General’s Office may have already contacted your school leaders with their one-sided view (click HERE and HERE to see what they are saying about Mahmoud). Equip your local officials with the MLLC’s legal advisory so that they can have the full picture and can be better prepared to respect the rights of religious parents when school starts in the fall.
Mom and dad, we recommend that you submit this opt out letter on the first day of school. Submit the letter by email to your child’s teacher and building principal, and request confirmation so you know they received it. Keep a friendly and open dialogue with your child’s teacher so that if there are any questions about a specific issue that comes up, you can resolve them. If at any point during the school year your child’s school does not respect your rights, or if you aren’t sure if your rights are being properly respected, the MLLC wants to hear from you! You can contact an attorney for free anytime at www.malibertylegal.org. The MLLC stands ready to help parents ensure that their rights under Mahmoud are protected.
We also encourage you to visit the Massachusetts Education Resource Center (MERC), a new initiative of Massachusetts Family Institute. MERC offers supports and resources for MA school committee members such as tools and trainings to equip and grow your local leaders, and model policies that your school committee can adopt for free. Within the upcoming weeks MERC’s sample policies will be updated to reflect school district responsibilities under Mahmoud. Visit MERC today at www.MassEdResource.org and click “Join the Network” to be notified when these updated policies are available, and then share them with your local school committee!
MIP will continue to track this issue throughout the upcoming year, so when school starts up, keep us in the loop. Did your district notify you of your rights under Mahmoud? Are you seeing more notifications from teachers concerning LGBTQ storybooks and other similar materials, especially at the younger grades? Do you notice any changes in curriculum from previous years? Let us know what you are seeing in your school district by emailing us at massinformedparents@gmail.com.
“‘Massachusetts Informed Parents’ types,” we look forward to hearing from you.
Did you love this post? Do you know people who would like to receive this type of in-depth analysis in their inbox, once a week (or whenever we post it)? If so, share Massachusetts Informed Parents Substack with your friends now!
Was this post forwarded to you by a friend? If so, subscribe today!
Great work, thank you! I'd also like to see legal action to designate gender ideology as a religious/faith based movement that has no place being promoted in our public institutions. Put the LGBTQIA+ zealots on the defensive, not mainstream parents who naturally want to guide their own children's moral development, whether they're religious or not.
As an educator I have seen these beliefs sweep into our schools and take over. Many true believers are nice people who teach this to their own children, which is fine. I get along with lots of people who have different religious beliefs. But why do they get away with forcing this down other people's throats in public schools at taxpayer expense??
If you follow the news from Amherst and Ludlow, you can see that educators are in an impossible position: use the wrong pronouns and you're either an evil indoctrinator or a transphobic bully, and probably soon to be unemployed either way.
It's a religious mania that has entrenched itself as our state religion, in my view, and it will take lawfare to win back our schools and institutions. Thanks again for your important work!
The Supreme Court's ruling took into consideration the age of the children, K - 5. So school districts may be less inclined to respect your request for opt-out for higher grades. Recommended letter is still worth a try, though. Massachusetts has protections for atheists under religion related law. So, if your objection to the teaching of gender ideology is scientific, then you could try just substituting "scientific" for "religious" in the proposed letter and seeing how that goes.