New Mexico mother moves her family to another STATE after daughter's school introduced 'gender inclusive closet' for 'non-conforming teens' and 'party days' when kids did no work: 'It was the last straw!'

A New Mexico mother relocated her family to another state after local public schools introduced what she deemed a 'transgender closet' and implemented 'party days' when kids did no schoolwork. 

Rachael Hein, who had lived in Las Cruces for the past 20 years, moved her family to Missouri upon learning a 'gender inclusive closet' had been introduced at Centennial High School.

'I thought, "Please tell me this is a joke." The high school my daughter was going into had been awarded a $10,000 grant to get a "transgender closet" installed.' she told Independent Women Forum. 

The 'gender inclusive closet,' according to It Gets Better, the nonprofit that funded the grant, provides 'affirming supplies and clothes for trans and gender non-conforming students.' 

Shocked and disheartened, Hein ultimately decided to uproot her family from New Mexico to a small town in Missouri, located a thousand miles away.

Rachael Hein, a New Mexico mother, relocated her family to another state after local public schools introduced what she deemed a ' transgender closet' and implemented 'party days' when kids did no schoolwork

Hein, who had lived in Las Cruces for the past 20 years, moved her family to Missouri upon learning a 'gender inclusive closet' had been introduced at Centennial High School (pictured)

Hein told FOX said she saw an article posted by a community member on Facebook about the installment of 'gender inclusive closet' last year. 

'There's the transgender closet, which really was the last straw. I went on Google and I see this. Yeah. Las Cruces, New Mexico, Centennial High School transgender closet. They were approved for this grant,' Hein said. 

At that time, she was 'getting everything all lined up' for her daughter to enroll at the high school. 

'And I thought, no, enough is enough. We're not going to subject our daughter to that. I don't want my kids who knows what hearing different messages pushed by counselors or teachers within a setting that I don't have ears in. 

'I do know some teachers, but it doesn't mean that my kids will always have a trusted teacher that's unbiased or not pushing that agenda,' she said. 

'If you go to school and you don't want your parents to know you're changing your identity at school, there you go.'

'There's your closet to do that without any [parental] knowledge. They're trying to keep us out,' Hein said, adding that the decision to build the closet was 'depraved.' 

The introduction of the 'transgender closet' follows years of frustration and concerns about the Las Cruces Public School system, she explained. 

'It all started right after the pandemic. I didn't like how the school board was making unanimous decisions about all of the extra hours and extra school days they were trying to push on the kids.' 

The school district added 10 extra school days to the 2022-2023 calendar to make up for the pandemic lockdowns, but she said the decision was a 'disaster.'

'Some schools got approval to do field trips, but most of the time [the kids] just stayed in school and had party days. My seventh-grader said they did no schoolwork at all.'

Hein and other parents referred to the additional school days as "party days," expressing concerns to the school boards. 

But during a town hall meeting, Gwen Warniment, a member of the New Mexico Public Education Department, said: 'We want the kids to be with the adults who matter most.'

The school district added ten extra school days to the 2022-2023 calendar to make up for the pandemic lockdowns, but she said the decision was a 'disaster.' Pictured: Hein and her husband

 The New Mexico Public Education Department's Deputy Secretary for Teaching, Learning & Assessment added: 'The adults who matter are the teachers in their classrooms.

The statement left Hein in outrage, as she said: 'That got under my skin. They have zero respect for families, or for anyone outside their own bubble of 'we know better than you.' 

'It felt like [school boards] heard you, but they really weren't listening. They would say the platitude of 'I hear your concerns and I might be concerned about that too.' 

'But really, they were just on their own path, their own trajectory, and didn't really matter. What community members said didn't really matter what students or teachers even wanted,' Hein said. 

The concerned mother noted that her children experienced significant progress during homeschooling amid the pandemic, but the gains made were lost when they returned to public schools. 

'My son was very strong in his core subjects because I wasn't letting him slack off [at home], but everyone else in his class was behind,' Hein said. 

'And even though he had a veteran teacher, who had been teaching for 20-plus years, he regressed because they were teaching at such a low level that he wasn't being challenged.' 

When she and other parents voiced their frustrations during an open forum scheduled by the school board, they were only met with disappointment as not a single board member was present. 

'Us parents were supposed to have a chance to address the school board and ask questions. But none of the school board members were there. Not a single one,' she said. 

When she and other parents voiced their frustrations during an open forum scheduled by the school board, they were only met with disappointment as not a single board member was present. Pictured: Hein with her husband

Hein is saddened to see some parents, whose children still attend Las Cruces schools, have chosen to remain silent on the matter. Pictured: Hein and her family 

 Hein's family now resides in Missouri, where the schools and community are more open and receptive to the thoughts and input of parents, she said. 

'It's been a positive change, for sure. Very different here in the sense that the neighborhood we're in. My kiddos can just go out and play with neighbors and it's safe. It's just very much more of a togetherness.' 

'It's been completely different for us here. I'm not saying that it's not going to be coming this way, or there aren't certain districts that are moving in that same direction. 

'But I think there's a lot more willingness to listen to parents and teachers and students in this area than there were in New Mexico,' she said. 

She is saddened to see some parents, whose children still attend Las Cruces schools, have chosen to remain silent on the matter.

'I would really encourage them to be involved. Volunteer, go to school board meetings. I knew teachers, people who love their kids in Las Cruces, but they wouldn't set a foot within the school board meetings. 

'It's going to impact the future generation, and there's going to be so much confusion if we're not willing to stand and say, no, enough is enough.'