MCPS 'Refrigerator Curriculum' is now out. Deadline to submit opt-out forms is 10 days from the first day of each marking period

The MCPS 'Refrigerator Curriculum' solution is now out, available by grade. If you have concerns about reading material, please remember to search the books in the 'supplemental instructional materials' link.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/refrigerator

As an example, here is the 'Refrigerator Curriculum' for Grade 5, first quarter.

Here is the link to the opt-out form. Per the MCPS instructions (yellow highlights my own), 

"Please review Regulation IFD-RA and complete one form per class/subject area. Once the form is complete, please email it to curriculumoptout@mcpsmd.org. This form is due within the first ten (10) school days of each marking period or within thirty (30) days of enrollment for new families."

To search the supplemental materials here is the information from the MCPS website.

These supplemental instructional materials might also be included in all grade levels. Supplemental materials are additional approved books for teachers to use to teach a topic. Ask your child’s teacher for more information about supplemental materials used in your child’s classroom. If any listed instructional material conflicts with your family’s sincerely held religious beliefs, you may request your child’s excusal by submitting this request form. For additional information, visit our Curriculum website.

Supreme Court ruling wasn’t the final word, as debate on LGBTQ books opt-out goes on

Wael Elkoshari, a parent pushing for a religious opt-out for instructions involving LGBTQ+ curriculum and books, speaks in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in April, when justices heard arguments in a Montgomery County case. (Photo by Danielle J. Brown/Maryland Matters)

Harford County Public Schools Superintendent Sean Bulson knows that school administrators “should be thrilled that parents want to be involved” in their children’s education.

Bulson also knows that there can be a point when parents get too involved, acknowledging the potential administrative burden of trying to anticipate everything that a parent might find objectionable in the classroom...

https://www.yahoo.com/news/supreme-court-ruling-not-final-070446901.html

Supreme Court says parents can pull kids from classes with LGBTQ-themed books

The 6-3 ruling blocks Montgomery County policy that prevented opt-outs; dissent says ruling will create ‘chaos’ for school systems

The U.S. Supreme Court handed a victory Friday to Montgomery County parents who object, for religious reasons, to the school system’s use of LGBTQ+-themed books in classrooms, saying parents should be allowed to opt their children out of such classes.

The 6-3 ruling in Mahmoud v. Taylor sent the case back to lower courts for a full hearing, but the majority left little doubt where it stands on the issue, with Justice Samuel Alito writing for the court that the parents have “shown that they are very likely to succeed in their free exercise” of religion claims.

“The Board’s introduction of the LGBTQ+-inclusive” storybooks into the literature curriculum, along with its decision to deny opt-outs as it does for other topics, “places an unconstitutional burden on the parents’ rights to the free exercise of their religion,” Alito wrote.

“The Board should be ordered to notify them [parents] in advance whenever one of the books in question or any other similar book is to be used in any way and to allow them to have their children excused from that instruction,” the majority opinion said. Alito was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.

In a sharp, 38-page dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor — joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson — said the majority’s ruling would create “chaos” for the nation’s public schools, which will be required to “provide advance notice and the chance to opt out of every lesson plan or story time that might implicate a parent’s religious beliefs.”..

https://marylandmatters.org/2025/06/27/supreme-court-says-parents-can-pull-kids-from-classes-with-lgbtq-themed-books/

The Leaked MCPS Memo on "Opt-Out."

 This internal MCPS memo sent to principals was leaked to parents and teachers in March of 2023.

Hundreds of Md. parents protest lessons they say offend their faiths

Hundreds of parents demonstrated outside the Montgomery County Board of Education’s meeting Tuesday demanding that Maryland’s largest school district allow them to shield their children from books and lessons that contain LGBTQ+ characters.

The crowd was filled largely with Muslim and Ethiopian Orthodox parents, who say the school system is violating their religious rights protected under the First Amendment by not providing an opt-out. Three families have filed a lawsuit against the school system...

Hundreds of Md. parents protest lessons they say offend their faiths (msn.com)

State BOE Issues Opinion on "Opt Out" of State Assessments

   FrederickCo.boe.Opin.no.16 13 by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

MSDE policy on MSA opt out

Baltimore County Coalition for Education Oversight: MSDE policy on MSA opt out: Letter from Maryland State Department of Education to local school systems regarding MSA (State standardized test) opt out: Excerpt from Accommodations Manual: Students may be excused only...

Video #6: Starr on Opting Out of Testing

Question #6 from November 26, 2012, MCPS Special Education Advisory Committee meeting with Superintendent Starr.

Starr on parents who have their students skip state tests.