California school principal Tony Thurmond was expelled from the district board meeting after speaking out against the new transgender policy

California’s state school principal was barred from a board meeting Thursday night in which he spoke out against a county’s policy of requiring teachers to notify parents of students who identify as transgender.

Tony Thurmond, 54, clashed with Chino Valley Unified School District official Sonja Shaw, prompting those in attendance to tell the educator to “leave our kids alone.”

“I come before you tonight as a parent, but we can discuss all the laws and all policies and practices. I ask you to consider this – that almost half of the students who identify as LGBTQ+ are contemplating suicide,” Thurmond began.

“The policy you are considering tonight may not only violate laws that respect the privacy and safety of our students, but it may also pose a risk to our students because they may not be in homes where they can be safe.”

Shaw interrupted Thurmond and claimed his allotted time was up while she railed against the state official, accusing him of putting the school district in the position he is in.

“Tony Thurmond, I appreciate you being here. But here’s the problem, we’re here tonight because of people like you,” Shaw said.

“They’re in Sacramento suggesting things that make kids perverted. You had a chance to come and talk to me, Tony. You definitely had a chance to come and talk to me. Why was it so important for you to go with my opponent? They’re exactly the reason we’re in here,” added Shaw.

Thurmond attempted to raise a point of order but was quickly dismissed by Shaw, who claimed he would do the exact same thing to her if the roles were reversed.

“No orders, this is not your meeting. You can sit down, because if I did that to you in Sacramento, you wouldn’t accept it, please sit down,” Shaw tells Thurmond. “You will not blackmail us, you sent us a blackmail letter before, you will not harass us here in Chino, please have a seat.”

Thurmond was escorted out of the session when he exceeded his one-minute speaking time.

According to the KTVU, the school board voted 4-1 to require schools to “notify parents of children who identify as transgender, seek a name or pronoun change, or request access to gender-sensitive facilities that do not match their birth-assigned gender.”

Thurmond said he was invited by students to speak out against “radical politics” but was verbally attacked by Shaw.

“Tonight I went to a school council meeting to speak up for LGBTQ+ students who had invited me to join them in speaking out against radical new policies that threaten their safety.” Thurmond wrote. “After I finished talking, the CEO verbally assaulted me and ordered the police to remove me.”

Thurmond later called the school board “extremists” and claimed that if he, the superintendent of public education, could be thrown out of a school assembly, “how are ordinary parents and students going to be heard in Chino Valley Unified?”