School nurse suspended over ‘inappropriate comments’ claiming children were secretly given puberty blockers

A school nurse was suspended by the Hartford School District after revealing the school she worked at was secretly giving children puberty blockers without their parent’s consent.

Katherine Cataford, 77 publicly stated that an 11-year-old child at her school had been prescribed puberty-blocking drugs and that many students at the school identify as nonbinary without their parents’ knowledge.

Cataford, who worked at the Richard J. Kinsella Magnet School in Hartford, Connecticut, made the comments in a Facebook post responding to a local mom’s group in which mothers swapped recommendations for local schools.

“Investigate the school system curriculum,” Cataford had recommended, according to the Daily Mail, calling Connecticut “a very socially liberal, gender confused state.”

Cataford went on to state that one young girl at her school has been put on hormone blockers, and that many students’ parents were being kept in the dark while their children identified at school as nonbinary.

“As a public-school nurse, I have an 11yo female student on puberty blockers and a dozen identifying as nonbinary, all but two keeping this as a secret from their parents with the help of teachers, SSW [social workers] and school administration,” the school nurse said.

“Teachers and SSW are spending 37.5 hours a week influencing our children, not necessarily teaching our children what YOU think is being taught,” she continued, adding that “children are introduced to this confusion in kindergarten by the school SW who ‘teaches’ social and emotional regulation and school expectations.”

Hartford Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Leslie Torres-Rodriguez released a statement condemning the remarks. She said the school aims to create an “inclusive environment” with a supportive staff.