The U.S. Department of Justice is alleging a Kansas school district violated two parental-rights laws by allowing students to undergo social gender transitions at school without their parents’ knowledge or consent.
In a complaint filed on Tuesday, the Justice Department said Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools created and retained written gender-transition plans while allowing students to request—and district officials to approve—the exclusion of their parents from planning meetings.
DOJ alleged the practice was illegal because it effectively prevents parents from accessing and challenging their children’s education records in violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
The school’s policies state that the students’ requests to not inform their parents would be evaluated by district administrators and an attorney, who would consider the student’s age, grade level, welfare, and other information, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit also alleges the district violated the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), which requires prior written parental consent before schools require minors to participate in certain evaluations that reveal sensitive information.
“Parental rights are paramount in the operation of America’s public schools, and Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools does not know children better than their own parents,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, in a statement. “The Department will not tolerate school districts playing fast and loose with federal law in the service of radical gender ideology.”
The school district released a statement Tuesday to The Epoch Times denying the DOJ’s allegations.
“Contrary to the allegations in the Complaint, the district maintains that it is in full compliance with FERPA and PPRA and is disappointed by the DOJ’s decision to file the lawsuit,” the school district stated. “Because this matter is now pending in federal court, the district will respond to the Complaint through the appropriate legal process and will not make any further comment at this time.”
It also called for a special meeting on Tuesday.
Under the school’s policies, a planning meeting may address a student’s preferred name, gender and pronouns, school records, restrooms, locker rooms, field trips, sports, and staff training. The resulting plan is put in writing and maintained by the district. A copy is provided to the parent unless the district has agreed to exclude the parent, according to the complaint.
The government alleges those written plans qualify as education records under FERPA, which gives parents the right to inspect their children’s education records and challenge information they consider inaccurate, misleading or an invasion of privacy.
The Kansas City school district has had a transgender policy since 2017 with the current version implemented in 2024.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction to halt the enforcement of the policy. It alleges the district’s transgender policy doesn’t give parents an opportunity to challenge misleading or inaccurate information in the plan, among other accusations.
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said that for decades, schools operated with little accountability as federal parental rights laws went unenforced, allowing some districts to cut parents out of their children’s personal matters.
“That era is over,” McMahon said in a press release. “The Trump administration is enforcing these laws at an unprecedented scale and making clear that schools cannot hide sensitive information from parents and expect to operate with impunity.”
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