The U.S. Department of Justice announced it had filed a lawsuit against Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools (KCKPS) for “facilitating secret ‘gender transitions’ for children at school without their parents’ knowledge or consent.”
The complaint, from the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. attorney for the District of Kansas, alleges:
The District maintains policies that direct staff to help students socially transition to a different gender at school and to withhold this information from parents as confidential.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon posted about the lawsuit on X, saying it was a “first-of-its-kind suit.”
While parents and teachers have filed lawsuits against school districts that force educators to lie and hide information from parents, this is the first time the DOJ has sued a district over a “transgender” policy.
In one such case, Mirabelli v. Bonta, the U.S. Supreme Court said parents are likely to succeed because secrecy policies violate their rights. That case remains ongoing.
Dhillon stated the significance of the suit in the DOJ’s press release:
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.
The Department will not tolerate school districts playing fast and loose with federal law in the service of radical gender ideology.
The complaint says KCKPS’ transgender policy violates the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which guarantees that “parents can see their children’s school records, seek correction of those records, and prevent disclosure of identifying information without consent.”
The secrecy policy also violates the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), the DOJ alleges. This federal law prohibits schools from requiring minor students to submit to any survey, analysis, or evaluation revealing sensitive information without prior written consent from their parents.
Schools that talk with students about sensitive, serious mental health issues like “gender dysphoria,” then help them “transition” and hide this from parents, are definitely violating these federal laws.
In 2017, the school district implemented a policy, “USD 500 Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Students Internal Guidance Document,” but does not post this on its website. The DOJ quotes from the current “Transgender Guideline,” showing how schools work with students to create a plan to change their “sexual identity” and hide this information from their parents:
If the student asks to exclude the student’s parent(s)/legal guardian(s) from the school planning meeting, that request will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Likewise, if the student does not want his or her transgender or gender non-conforming status disclosed to the student’s parent(s)/legal guardian(s), that request will also be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
Kansas City, Missouri’s KSHB reported the complaint “is the latest development in a months-long dispute between the district and DOJ.”
KCKPS Superintendent Anna Stubblefield disputed the allegations, saying, “It also is not policy, it is guidance.”
The NBC affiliate reported, “KCKPS receives almost $70 million from the federal government and stands to lose this funding over the dispute,” adding that Stubblefield could not recall any instances of the district hiding information from parents.
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon explained why lawsuits like this are important, applauding the DOJ for its actions:
For decades, schools operated with little accountability as federal parental rights laws like FERPA and PPRA went unenforced, allowing some districts to cut parents out of deeply personal matters involving their own children.
She emphasized, “That era is over,” adding:
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. We are grateful to the Department of Justice for taking this next step and for its continued partnership with the Department of Education to enforce federal law and protect the fundamental rights of parents.
The case is U.S. vs. Unified School District No. 500.
Related articles and resources:
Barrett v. Kagan: Key Takeaways From Supreme Court Ruling on ‘Transgender’ School Policies
California Teachers Told to Hide Information About Students’ ‘Gender’ From Parents – They’re Suing
California Schools May Not Hide Students’ ‘Gender Identity’ From Parents
Exclusive Interview: Colorado Parents Expose ‘Gender Cult’ at Public School in New Documentary
Moms for Liberty Sues New Jersey School District for Hiding ‘Gender Transitions’ From Parents
Supreme Court Affirms Parents’ Rights Over California’s ‘Transgender’ School Policies
What’s Your School District’s ‘Transgender’ Policy?
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