What Burbank Parents Are Entitled to See

Three years ago, seven hundred and ninety-seven Burbank neighbors signed a petition addressed to the Burbank Unified School District. Read the comments they left and one thing stands out: almost nobody was accusing anyone of anything. They were asking to be told, and to be allowed to choose.

Others put it the same way. Margaret wrote that parents “have a right to know what’s being thought to our kids and have a voice to choose.” Talin Postik asked that parents be “the ones who choose how to discuss these topics with their own children, at an age when the parents feel is appropriate.” Knarik Shirikjian wrote that she wanted to speak with her children first, in her own time. Rocio Adame said her daughter attends a Burbank school and that this was something she would rather address at home.

One comment was simply sad. Linet Stepanians wrote that she had begun sending her three children to a private school in another city, when the Burbank school she wanted was one block from her house.

That petition asked for two specific things. First, that the district let parents examine the curriculum materials, citing California Education Code section 51101(a)(8) by name. Second, that parents be asked to sign before their child takes part in lessons on gender identity.

Here is what almost nobody told those parents: on the first request, the law was already on their side. On the second, it is now.

What you may see

Your child’s records. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act gives a parent the right to inspect and review their child’s education records. The school does not get to decide whether your reason is good enough, and it must respond within forty-five days. That right passes to the student at eighteen.

The curriculum. California Education Code section 51101 lists the rights of parents of public school pupils, and subsection (a)(8) is the one the petition cited: the right to examine the curriculum materials of the class or classes in which your child is enrolled. This is state law, it is not discretionary, and it has been on the books for years.

Survey and instructional materials. The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment gives parents the right to inspect surveys, instructional material used with a survey, and material used in connection with certain evaluations before they are given to students.

What you may refuse

Eight subjects, by name. The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment names eight areas a school may not survey a student about without parental consent where the survey is federally funded, and must offer an opt-out of otherwise. They are: political affiliations or beliefs; mental or psychological problems; sexual behavior or attitudes; illegal, antisocial, self-incriminating or demeaning behavior; critical appraisals of close family members; legally recognised privileged relationships, such as with a lawyer, doctor or member of the clergy; religious practices, affiliations or beliefs; and family income.

Sex education. Under the California Healthy Youth Act, a parent may excuse their child from comprehensive sexual health education and from HIV prevention education in writing. The district must notify you beforehand and must make the materials available for inspection.

And, since June 2025, more than that. In Mahmoud v. Taylor the Supreme Court held that parents are entitled to notice and an opportunity to opt their children out of instruction that burdens the religious exercise of the family. Several of the Burbank parents quoted above gave religious reasons three years before that decision existed.

One area where the ground is still moving

There is a genuine, unresolved conflict between Sacramento and Washington over what a school must tell a parent about a child’s gender identity, and any parent reading this deserves to know it is unsettled rather than to be told a comfortable answer.

California’s Assembly Bill 1955, signed in 2024, prohibits a district from adopting a policy that requires staff to disclose a student’s gender identity or sexual orientation without that student’s consent. In January 2026 the United States Department of Education found that the California Department of Education had thereby violated the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, on the reasoning that it interfered with a parent’s federal right to inspect their child’s records. California disputes the finding, maintains that parents may still request and review records containing that information, and has sued. That case has not been decided.

What is not in dispute is narrower and more useful: the federal right to inspect the records that exist is not conditional on the subject matter. A record kept in a separate file is still a record. If you request your child’s education records and believe something has been withheld, say so in writing and ask which exemption is being claimed.

How to actually ask

Put it in writing, keep a copy, and be specific. A request that names the law and the document tends to be answered; a request that expresses a feeling tends to be filed.

• Address it to your school principal, and copy the district office.
• Say what you want. “All education records for my child” under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or the curriculum materials for a named class under Education Code section 51101(a)(8).
• Give a date. Federal law allows the school forty-five days to produce records. Ask for confirmation of receipt in the meantime.
• Ask for the reason in writing if anything is withheld, including which exemption applies.
• Keep the paper. A complaint to the Department of Education’s Student Privacy Policy Office is only as good as the record behind it.

A note on what this is. The comments quoted here are public and were published by their authors on a public petition in 2022; the petition currently shows 797 signatures. We have quoted them as written. Nothing on this page accuses any teacher, administrator or employee of the Burbank Unified School District of wrongdoing, and nothing here should be read that way. Parents asked to be informed and to be able to choose. This page sets out the law that answers them.

A form you can use

Rather than leave you to draft this yourself, we have put all of it on a single two-page form addressed to your school principal and to the Superintendent. Tick only the boxes you want. Every item carries the law it rests on, and the authorities are listed at the end. It can be filled in on a computer and emailed, or printed and completed by hand.

Open the parent form ▸

Records in particular have their own deadline, and their own page: Parents have a right to see their child’s school records sets out what an education record is, the five business days California allows for inspecting one, and what the law will not do.

The form is attached to the end of this document. It may also be downloaded from burbank.gop/record/parents/.

This is not legal advice. The form is offered as administrative assistance only — a tidy way to put a request in writing and keep a copy. The Burbank Republican Party is not a law firm and does not practice law. If you need legal advice, consult a licensed attorney. Nothing here creates any relationship between you and this party, and no outcome is promised.

We take no position here on what any family should decide. That is the point. A parent who asks a reasonable question about their own child is entitled to a straight answer, and every parent in this city should know that the law already says so.