The parents — referred to as Jane and John Doe in the filing — claimed Alpine School District violated their first amendment right to freely exercise their religion and their 14th amendment right to “‘to make decisions concerning the care, custody, and control of their children.'” Both parents are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The claims were dismissed by U.S. District Judge Jill Parrish, first reported in the Axios Salt Lake City newsletter. The parents’ assertion the school district was negligent, though, was sent to Utah’s Fourth District.

“The Does had previously discovered that JD had begun having sex with his girlfriend and had placed restrictions on JD’s activity to prevent him from having premarital sex thereafter, such as requiring him to be accompanied by other persons when he was with his girlfriend and requiring that JD travel to and from school with his older sibling,” reads the court filing.

During the last week of school, Skyridge High School has an informal attendance policy where attendance is not enforced, and students are released after two hours of class to speak with other teachers about their grades.

“The school custom of giving students unsupervised time after being released early from class during the last week of school applies equally to all students regardless of religion, and it was not created with the motivation of infringing on religious practices,” reads the filing.

The parents’ main argument is that due to the free time given to students during the last week of school, the district did not “aid their efforts as parents” to prevent their son from having premarital sex. They also asserted that their right to choose how their child is parented was violated because the school did not inform them of the attendance policy.

Further, Parrish stated that, although pre-marital sex is against JD’s religious beliefs, the Does claim that their religious freedom was violated is dismissed because the school district did not force JD to act differently than his religious beliefs.

“He freely chose to have premarital sex with his girlfriend, even though this was against the teachings of his religion,” reads the filing.

According to the court, Jane Doe found out about the attendance policy and her sons’ activities when she went to check her son out of school and the office could not locate him on May 25, 2022.

The Does said they were concerned that, on what was designated as a normal school day, the staff was unable to locate her son.

According to reporting by The Salt Lake Tribune, the parents said, “Ultimately, it should not be this difficult to ensure that the school district complies with its own policies requiring attendance, the taking of roll, and the supervision of students.”

In response, Jeff Schoonover, ASD administrator of secondary schools, “acknowledged the Does’ concerns and agreed that the school district could do better in communicating the unofficial school schedule and in pushing schools to follow the official schedule.”

While the parents were concerned about the attendance policy, Parrish wrote, “The Does cannot wield the constitutional right to parent as a sword to require the district to adopt policies that help them to direct and control their son’s choices.”

“While it may be wise for schools to adhere to attendance policies and keep parents informed of students’ whereabouts and schedules, the school’s actions and omissions have not violated the plaintiffs’ constitutional right to parent their child,” Parrish wrote.

Alpine School District did not respond to the Daily Herald’s calls for comment.