Ohio school defends guidance counselor seen in undercover video

An Ohio school district is considering its legal options after a watchdog group released undercover video that purportedly shows a high school guidance counselor telling an activist journalist posing as the parent of a boy identifying as female how to circumvent the state’s laws. 

The conservative watchdog group Accuracy in Media released the footage of its undercover investigation on Monday. In the video, an undercover operative is heard asking Reading Community Schools guidance counselor Jennifer Leone if her son can compete in women’s sports and use the girls’ restroom. 

The operative told Leone that her son had an updated birth certificate that referred to the child as female, asking how this applies to Ohio’s laws regarding bathrooms and athletics.

“And that’s where, I would think, ‘This is what the birth certificate says, prove that it’s wrong,'” Leone said in response. “Prove it.”

When the journalist asked later whether she would need to produce her son’s original birth certificate to compete in sports, the guidance counselor is heard asking how anyone would know to ask for it. 

“As long as, you know, the name that’s on your birth certificate is the name that you put in the system, and you fill out everything in the system that matches the birth certificate, again, how are you going to prove it?” Leone stated. 

The reporter asked if her son could use the girls’ restroom at school, to which Leone replied that she didn’t see why that would be a problem. 

In response to an inquiry from The Christian Post about Accuracy in Media’s video, a spokesperson for Reading Community City Schools accused Accuracy in Media of “recklessly and irresponsibly” mischaracterizing a conversation with a district staff member. Reading Schools follows the laws and supports parental rights, the spokesperson asserted. 

“We investigated this situation, including talking with our staff member, when we first learned of it, and we are comfortable that the video does not represent the truth,” the Reading Schools spokesperson told CP. “We are talking with legal counsel about our options.”

In 2024, Ohio enacted House Bill 68, which bans males who identify as female from competing in female athletics.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, signed Senate Bill 104 in November 2024, which requires students at primary and secondary schools, as well as institutions of higher education, to use the restrooms and changing facilities that align with their biological sex.

The bill, which took effect in February, also prohibits institutions from maintaining “all-gender” restrooms or locker rooms that are accessible to more than one person at a time. 

The Reading Schools spokesperson accused Accuracy in Media of editing the conversation with the staff member to fit the group’s “agenda” and to help the organization gain income through online viewership. 

“The people and organization behind this misleading video are not from our community, don’t know Reading Schools, and are playing out a well-worn practice that has been attempted with numerous school districts across Ohio and the nation,” the spokesperson continued.

“We are angry by the deceptive tactics used by AIM and the efforts to promote this false account to the organization’s benefit.”

Jennifer Leone did not immediately respond to The Christian Post’s request for comment. In the footage released by Accuracy in Media, the group’s president, Adam Guillette, is seen confronting the guidance counselor about the undercover footage. 

Leone declined to respond to his questions and asked the watchdog group’s president to leave. 

Accuracy in Media’s investigation follows several reports from parents across the country who have accused their child’s school district of helping their son or daughter socially transition without parental consent. 

The parents or guardians in these situations claim that the schools use pronouns when addressing their child that do not reflect the child’s actual sex. In some cases, the schools allowed students to use the bathroom or locker room that aligned with their gender identity without consulting their parents.